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Spiritual Stability, Part 1 Introduction (Philippians 41) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Let's open our Bibles together to Philippians chapter 4.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: We are going to embark upon.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: A wonderful new study of the first nine verses of
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: this great chapter. And the title of our study over
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the next several weeks is Spiritual Stability. Spiritual Stability. There
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: are many things that we shall find in this, the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: last chapter in the rich epistle we've studied for a
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: number of months, that are already familiar to us. There
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: are many portions of this particular chapter that perhaps you
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: have even committed to memory. There are some very familiar portions.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: As is often the case in those chapters and sections
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: of Scripture with which we are familiar with certain verses
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: or certain phrases, Sometimes we miss the overall intent. We
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: may see the trees, but not the forest. We may
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: understand the parts, but not the whole. We may be
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: able to capture a few basic principles, but not the
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: reason why. I want us to see the big subject
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: and its components.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: As we look at this great chapter.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: In order to do that, we have to take verses
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  Speaker 1: 1 to 9 as a unit. And the theme of
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  Speaker 1: these verses is spiritual stability. It introduces us, I believe,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: to a subject that is of great importance. I am
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: convinced that it's fair to say that the church of
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ in our country today has experienced a great
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: amount of instability. From the leadership on down, it tends
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: to be an unstable church. It is unstable in the
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: sense that its own leaders do not seem to be
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: They appear to be unstable.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: I received a letter this morning reading it on my
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: desk from a well-known evangelical who said to me, my
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  Speaker 1: heart is broken because seven of my dear friends have
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: defaulted from the ministry in the last year.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: And pleaded as it were with.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Me and before God somehow to find a way to
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: deal with this great instability, this great vulnerability that is
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: demonstrated in the fall of those in spiritual leadership.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: It is an unstable church.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: It is a church fraught with problems and anxiety and worry.
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  Speaker 1: It is a church that seems ever and always to
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: be trying to patch itself up, to fix itself, to
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  Speaker 1: solve its almost inestimable number of problems. It is my
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  Speaker 1: judgment that the church in fact is unstable, and it
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  Speaker 1: is unstable because it has not come to grips with
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  Speaker 1: the biblical principles of stability. It tends to pursue stability
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  Speaker 1: in areas where it does not.
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  Speaker 2: Live, reside, exist.
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  Speaker 1: It tends to be seeking answers that aren't there, solutions
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  Speaker 1: that are short-term at best. Now, we can grant the
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: assumption that the church will be under attack.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Jesus said it, in this world you shall have what? Tribulation.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: John 16.
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  Speaker 1: He said there will be days when people will actually
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  Speaker 1: persecute you, take your life, do to you what they
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  Speaker 1: did to me.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: They will take you before their courts. They will throw
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: you in their prisons. Expect it. There is a hostile world.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: There is a hostile flesh and there is a hostile
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  Speaker 1: devil and you will be in conflict. The scriptures warn
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  Speaker 1: us that we must be watchful Jesus said, watch and pray.
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  Speaker 1: Be alert, be aware is a ringing theme in the
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  Speaker 1: words of Peter and Paul. The devil moves around like
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  Speaker 1: a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The flesh,
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  Speaker 1: as it were, stalks the redeemed self to debilitate it,
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  Speaker 1: to distract it. There is the world with all of
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  Speaker 1: its allurements that endeavors to entice the believer.
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  Speaker 2: We are always under assault.
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  Speaker 1: In our personal lives, there will be times of persecution
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  Speaker 1: and trial, severe trial, subtle persecution in our society, which
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  Speaker 1: I think sometimes is more difficult than that which is
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: not so subtle. I think in a society where being
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: a Christian costs you your life and where being a
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  Speaker 1: Christian makes you a prisoner and where being a Christian
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: shuts you off from society altogether, Once you have declared
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  Speaker 1: yourself a Christian and it's cut and dried, it might
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  Speaker 1: be easier to maintain that testimony than in our society
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  Speaker 1: where we are accepted by the world to the degree
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  Speaker 1: that we want their acceptance and somehow we are afraid
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  Speaker 1: to make our Christianity an issue. And so subtly we compromise.
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  Speaker 1: Because we are caught between being different and being part,
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  Speaker 1: whereas in a society where you're definitely apart from the system,
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  Speaker 1: there's no subtlety. I think our persecutions may be in
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  Speaker 1: some ways harder. I remember a Russian pastor saying to
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  Speaker 1: me right on that front row through an interpreter, I.
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  Speaker 2: Said to him, how is it to pastor a church?
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  Speaker 2: Is it difficult? He said, it's easy. You always know
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  Speaker 2: where everyone stands.
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  Speaker 1: He said, what I don't understand is how in the
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  Speaker 1: world you can pastor a church in America where the
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  Speaker 1: compromises are so common.
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  Speaker 2: And subtle. We have that persecution.
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  Speaker 1: We also face personal trials and troubles that cause us
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  Speaker 1: to break down in terms of our trust, that make
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  Speaker 1: us nervous and anxious and cause us to worry and
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  Speaker 1: fret and fume and retaliate and feel vengeance and carry
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  Speaker 1: bitterness and bear sorrow.
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  Speaker 2: And where do we go to get fixed?
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  Speaker 1: We have problems in our marriages and in our families,
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  Speaker 1: struggles and dilemmas, and we pursue solutions and resolution. We
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  Speaker 1: fight even in our own lives strong temptation to sin.
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  Speaker 1: And the world is very clever in its allurements, and
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  Speaker 1: the flesh is very vulnerable, and the devil is very aggressive,
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  Speaker 1: and it is very much a battle to stay stable.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: And that is really what is on Paul's heart here.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be under any illusions about the Philippian church. It
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  Speaker 1: is true that the Philippians had a special love bond
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  Speaker 1: with Paul. There's no question about it. It is true
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  Speaker 1: that they alone had shared with him, as we shall
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  Speaker 1: see later in chapter 4, in the middle of his need.
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  Speaker 1: It is true that he had a love for them
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  Speaker 1: that maybe surpassed some others, a bond that was perhaps
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  Speaker 1: unique and had been cultivated through the years mutually. It
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  Speaker 1: is true that he had a passionate longing to fellowship
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  Speaker 1: with them. There was a deep caring between them. But
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  Speaker 1: that does not mean that the Philippian church was in
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  Speaker 1: all respects everything it ought to be, and that does
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  Speaker 1: not mean that there was.
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  Speaker 2: Not instability there.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, reading through Philippians as far as we have already,
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  Speaker 1: now coming to the last chapter, we have noted very
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  Speaker 1: clear hints that there was selfishness in that church. that
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  Speaker 1: there was self-interest in that church, that there were people
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  Speaker 1: who had stumbled and fallen from their spiritual stability into
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  Speaker 1: conceit and pride and were more concerned about the things
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  Speaker 1: of their own life than the things of others. They
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  Speaker 1: did not have the mind of Christ. We also know
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  Speaker 1: that there was some conflict in that church of major
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  Speaker 1: proportions which will be dealt with in verses 2 and
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  Speaker 1: 3 of this chapter. Two women who apparently may have
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  Speaker 1: been able to lead factions that could have split the church.
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  Speaker 1: They had an intense disagreement and others were no doubt
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  Speaker 1: party to the quarrel. Two women who couldn't agree doesn't
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  Speaker 1: seem like a lot of problems except the fact is
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  Speaker 1: these were two prominent women and apparently it was significant
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  Speaker 1: enough for Paul to have identified the women by name
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  Speaker 1: in verse 2. What may be equally troubling is that
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  Speaker 1: in verse 3 he has to ask somebody to fix
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: it up, which means apparently the leadership of the church had.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Not really done what they should have done in dealing
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  Speaker 2: with the problem. That too was a failure.
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  Speaker 1: So there was some stumbling and some instability in leadership
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  Speaker 1: as well as in the congregation. It is obvious also
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  Speaker 1: that there was some depression there in that church, some
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  Speaker 1: unfounded sorrow, some harshness of spirit, some anxiety, some failure
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  Speaker 1: to take prayer seriously. There were some troubled minds. There
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: were some minds filled with all the wrong kinds of
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  Speaker 1: things who needed to think on the right kind of things.
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  Speaker 1: There were some people who weren't trusting God. There were
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  Speaker 1: some people who weren't thankful. In other words, it was
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  Speaker 1: a church, just a plain old church. just like every church.
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  Speaker 1: And there were all levels of spiritual stability, all levels
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  Speaker 1: of spiritual strength. Paul is deeply concerned for the stability
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  Speaker 1: of this congregation. But it wasn't just Paul. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: this is reflected through the whole of the New Testament.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus was concerned about the stability of the church. I
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  Speaker 1: think about it in the restoration of Peter at the
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  Speaker 1: last of John's gospel in that final chapter where where
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  Speaker 1: Jesus restores Peter back to function, and as Peter begins
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  Speaker 1: immediately then to manifest another weakness, he says, stop right
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  Speaker 1: there and do what I tell you.
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  Speaker 2: Follow me. And it will cost you your life. Be strong.
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  Speaker 1: That's really the intent of what he said, if not
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  Speaker 1: the words. Jesus was concerned about the strength of his disciples.
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  Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter 10, He clearly delineated for them to
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  Speaker 1: anticipate difficulty, anticipate trials. He repeatedly pointed out to them
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  Speaker 1: the weakness of their flesh, the weakness of their faith,
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  Speaker 1: wanting in some ways to instruct and insulate them from
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  Speaker 1: future instability. And so this becomes a rather constant theme
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  Speaker 1: in the New Testament, and I think one that needs
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  Speaker 1: to be addressed in the church in which we live today.
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  Speaker 1: We have a very unstable church. Unstable leadership, unstable congregations.
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  Speaker 1: And sadly, trying to prop themselves up with all the
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  Speaker 1: wrong things. So for a number of weeks, I want
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  Speaker 1: to speak to you on spiritual stability. I stand in
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  Speaker 1: the succession of the apostles.
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  Speaker 2: In a sense. You remember Peter? In 2 Peter 2.14-17.
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  Speaker 1: He wrote about false teachers and agents of Satan who
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  Speaker 1: were always attempting to, and here was his phrase, entice
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  Speaker 1: unstable souls. Do you realize that that is part of
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  Speaker 1: pastoral duty to somehow try to protect those unstable souls?
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  Speaker 2: Why do you think.
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  Speaker 1: Paul warned for three years in his ministry in Ephesus
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  Speaker 1: with tears and Why does Peter repeat things and say,
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  Speaker 1: I've told you these things over and over again to
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  Speaker 1: put you in remembrance so that when I'm not there,
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  Speaker 1: you can stay strong? Because they concerned themselves with the
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  Speaker 1: stability of unstable souls.
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  Speaker 2: Peter even said in 2 Peter 3.16.
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  Speaker 1: That Paul's letters, the great inspired epistles of Paul, were
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  Speaker 1: taken from by, he says, untaught and unstable people, and
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  Speaker 1: they distorted the writing of Paul to their own destruction.
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  Speaker 2: What a statement. Boy, they're not alone, folks. They are
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  Speaker 2: not alone.
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  Speaker 1: There are many untaught and unstable people today who are
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  Speaker 1: distorting the teaching of Paul, who are distorting the teaching
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  Speaker 1: of Scripture, who are confusing people, who are misrepresenting and misinterpreting.
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  Speaker 2: The Word of God. James warned about the same thing.
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  Speaker 1: James said that the spiritually unstable are the double-minded, people
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  Speaker 1: who waver about things. They don't know what they believe.
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  Speaker 1: They don't know what is right. They can't make decisions.
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  Speaker 1: They vacillate between doubt and faith. They are the spiritually unstable.
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  Speaker 1: They're not single-minded. They're not fixed on righteous truth. They're
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  Speaker 1: not focused on the character of God to the degree
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  Speaker 1: that they understand Him, that they understand His revelation, and
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  Speaker 1: thus they have a single mind. But it isn't even
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  Speaker 1: really new to the New Testament. Although James concerned himself
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  Speaker 1: with it, and Peter did, and Paul did, and surely
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  Speaker 1: John and Jude as well, Jude who said that God
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  Speaker 1: alone is able to make you stable and keep you
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  Speaker 1: from falling. Although they all talked about it, certainly they're
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  Speaker 1: not alone. You can go all the way back into
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  Speaker 1: the Old Testament and find this concern with instability. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: you can go all the way back to the first
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  Speaker 1: book of the Bible, and let me remind you of
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  Speaker 1: a very wonderful chapter in terms of biblical history, the
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  Speaker 1: 49th of Genesis. For in that chapter, Jacob gathers together
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  Speaker 1: his sons and grants to them the legacy. And he begins,
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  Speaker 1: you remember, in that 49th chapter with his oldest son
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  Speaker 1: whose name was Reuben. And I want you to listen
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  Speaker 1: to what he says to Reuben. Reuben, you are my firstborn,
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  Speaker 1: my might and the beginning of my strength. Preeminent in dignity.
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  Speaker 1: and preeminent in power.
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  Speaker 2: Boy, what a statement.
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  Speaker 1: Reuben, you are my firstborn, primogenitor, the right to the inheritance.
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  Speaker 1: You are my might, the beginning of my strength. You
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  Speaker 1: are preeminent in dignity. You are preeminent in power. What privilege, huh?
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  Speaker 1: What opportunity? And then he said this, unstable as water,
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  Speaker 1: you shall not have the preeminence.
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  Speaker 2: That's sad, isn't it? What disqualified Reuben? His spiritual what? Instability.
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  Speaker 1: He's not alone. As I said, it's not a new problem.
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  Speaker 1: It's a very old problem. Reuben had unequaled privilege. unequaled potential,
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  Speaker 1: unequaled opportunity, and he forfeited all of it because he
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  Speaker 1: was as unstable as water.
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  Speaker 2: Specifically what he did.
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  Speaker 1: Was commit fornication in his father's bed, in his father's house,
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  Speaker 1: with his father's concubine.
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  Speaker 2: Genesis 35, 22. He was a fornicator.
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  Speaker 1: A demonstration of spiritual instability. And he was disqualified. And
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  Speaker 1: his father said, you shall.
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  Speaker 2: Not have preeminence.
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  Speaker 1: Spiritual instability is a disqualifier from many things. Spiritual instability
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  Speaker 1: is a disappointment to everyone. Nobody likes that. Nobody wants
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  Speaker 1: to be unstable. Nobody wants to fall to false doctrine.
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  Speaker 1: Not a true Christian. We don't want to fall under
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  Speaker 1: trials and literally get crushed and so depressed that our.
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  Speaker 2: Depression, of course, is unrealistic. We don't want to fall
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  Speaker 2: to temptation.
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  Speaker 1: I think if you catch us in our moments of
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  Speaker 1: spiritual saneness, we will affirm that we want to be
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  Speaker 1: spiritually stable.
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  Speaker 2: But the question is how? How? Boy, that is a
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  Speaker 2: big issue, isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: In a sense, you can equate spiritual stability with godliness, Christlikeness, holiness, maturity.
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  Speaker 1: But it is nonetheless very basic to Christian living.
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  Speaker 2: And the heartbreak really....
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  Speaker 1: In the heart of God as He views the church today,
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  Speaker 1: must be over this tremendous, demonstrable instability.
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  Speaker 2: We vacillate all over.
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  Speaker 1: The place, theologically, in the midst of trials, in temptation,
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  Speaker 1: from leaders on down. So how can we be stable?
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  Speaker 1: How can we stand firm? How can we get over
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  Speaker 1: the ups and downs to an even keel? Well, that's
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  Speaker 1: what we're going to learn in the next few weeks.
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  Speaker 1: Would you notice verse 1? And all we'll do this
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  Speaker 1: morning is look at it as the introduction. Would you
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  Speaker 1: notice the phrase in verse 1, stand firm in the Lord?
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  Speaker 2: You might circle that.
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  Speaker 1: That is the dominating verb and theme in this entire
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  Speaker 1: nine verses.
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  Speaker 2: Stand firm in the Lord. Spiritual stability.
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  Speaker 1: He knew what the Philippians were undergoing back in chapter 1.
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  Speaker 1: He had said to them in verse 28, in no
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: way be alarmed by your opponents.
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  Speaker 2: They were being persecuted.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 29, he says, it's been granted to you for
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  Speaker 1: Christ's sake not only to believe in Him but also
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  Speaker 1: to suffer for His sake.
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  Speaker 2: They were suffering.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, it was severe enough that in verse 30
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  Speaker 1: he says they were experiencing the same conflict they had
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  Speaker 1: seen in Him. So they were suffering very severe persecution.
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  Speaker 2: So they were... vulnerable to instability at that point.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter 2 seems to indicate to me that they were
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  Speaker 1: not all of the same mind. Chapter 2, verse 2,
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  Speaker 1: He commands them, be of the same mind. Back in
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: chapter 1, verse 27, He says to them, Conduct yourselves
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  Speaker 1: in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Standing firm in one spirit with one mind.
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  Speaker 1: It's obvious that there was some real disagreement in that
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  Speaker 1: church and dissension. So they were falling not only under persecution,
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  Speaker 1: but under temptation. They were receiving, as it were, the onslaught.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 14 of chapter 2 indicates that there was some
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  Speaker 1: grumbling and some disputing going on as they tried to
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  Speaker 1: survive in what verse 15 calls a crooked and perverse generation.
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  Speaker 1: They were having a tough time holding forth the word
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  Speaker 1: of life with clarity in the midst of a hostile, perverse,
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  Speaker 1: and crooked generation. Everything wasn't going the way they thought
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  Speaker 1: it ought to go, and there was some grumbling and
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  Speaker 1: disputing going on.
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  Speaker 2: They needed to.
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  Speaker 1: Sort of recharge their joy batteries, according to chapter 2,
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  Speaker 1: verse 18, and start rejoicing instead of fretting. Chapter 3,
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  Speaker 1: verse 18, tells us that they were encountering the enemies
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  Speaker 1: of the cross. We learn that they were encountering Judaizers
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  Speaker 1: who were called in verse 2, dogs and evil workers
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  Speaker 1: and the false mutilation. And they were encountering libertines who
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  Speaker 1: were coming in, in verse 19, and whose God was
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  Speaker 1: their appetite, whose glory was in their shame, and who
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  Speaker 1: set their minds on earthly things.
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  Speaker 2: So there were some attacking the cross.
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  Speaker 1: The Judaizers saying to be saved you have to add
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  Speaker 1: works to the cross, and the libertines saying after you're
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  Speaker 1: saved you don't have to add works to the cross.
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  Speaker 1: And so these enemies of the cross were attacking. They
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  Speaker 1: were getting it from a lot of sides. You get
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  Speaker 1: into chapter 4 and you've got the debate with the
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  Speaker 1: two women, the problem there, We get into verse 6.
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  Speaker 2: And it's obvious that some of them were worrying and anxious.
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  Speaker 1: So they were falling victim to personal temptation, to corporate attacks,
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  Speaker 1: to persecution. And Paul commands them to stand firm in
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  Speaker 1: the Lord. As I said, it isn't the first time
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  Speaker 1: he's said that. Chapter 1, verse 27, standing firm in
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: one spirit. This is the second time he calls them
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  Speaker 1: to stand firm. Now the Greek verb here is stakete.
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  Speaker 1: It's an imperative command. And it is a military word
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  Speaker 1: which means to stand your ground, stand your post in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of battle.
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  Speaker 2: That's what it means. It means to hold your position
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  Speaker 2: while under attack.
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  Speaker 1: It means what Paul said in Ephesians 6, in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of battle you've got your armor on and having
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  Speaker 1: done all to stand. Stand against the wiles of the devil.
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  Speaker 1: Stand firmly.
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  Speaker 2: No matter what comes.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: You don't crumble under persecution and compromise. You don't crumble
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: under testing and complain. You don't crumble under temptation and sin.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: You stand firm, spiritually stable. You can understand how Any
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: pastor would want that, can't you?
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: May I remind you again that this is a command?
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: And may I remind you that we have somehow softened
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: our view of God so that commands don't seem like
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: commands anymore? This is a command from the living God
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: through His Holy Spirit by means of the Apostle Paul.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: God says, I want you to stand firm. This is
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: a command. It grieves my heart that we don't take
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: commands seriously. I guess it grieves my heart that we
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: don't take God seriously. I was listening to a tape
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: of A.W. Tozer preaching at a Bible conference a couple
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: of decades past. In his tape, he said, I've been
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: assessing the church for a long time. And he said,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: my conclusion is basically that the church is politely bored
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: with God. It's a fairly good assessment of the church today.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: Politely bored with God.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: He went on to say, you expect me to entertain you,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: you expect me to do something that will attract your
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: attention and titillate your emotions because, frankly, if all I
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: do is talk about God, you'll be bored.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: Well, if.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: One is bored with God, that is a blasphemous attitude
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: and probably leads to the kind of apathy that would
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: make a command of God something more like a suggestion.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Can we somehow re-grip the reality that our sovereign God
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: is commanding us in the imperative of verse 1 to
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: stand firm? And in the command is the inherent capability
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: to obey the command, which of course is supplied by
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: God's Spirit, who is able to make us stand.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: This is a command. And all I want to do
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: this morning is plant that command in your mind.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: It comes from God. He demands it. It comes from
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: our holy, almighty, sovereign, glorious God. Now let me give
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: you a little bit of the context.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: Let's go to verse 1.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: And you'll see a couple of things here as we
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: just introduce this basic principle of spiritual stability. Notice the
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: first word is therefore, which always relates back to what
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: has been said. It assumes that what is now to
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: be said is based or built upon what has just
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: been said. Because of this, therefore this. Prior fact leads
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: to this. And what in fact is that? Well, we
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: need only go back into the third chapter. And if
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: we were to summarize the third chapter, we could summarize
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: it this way. You remember it well. We are pursuing Christlikeness.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: which is both the goal and the prize.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: Of our Christian life.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: And we are waiting for that upward call of God
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: in Christ Jesus. We are waiting for that day when
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: we as heavenly citizens meet the Lord Jesus Christ, and
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: then verse 21, and are transformed into conformity with the
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: body of His glory. In other words, we are pursuing Christ-likeness.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: We are citizens of heaven. We are waiting for the
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Savior who will make us like Himself. Since then, we
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: are heavenly citizens. And since the goal of our life
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: and the prize of our life is Christ-likeness, therefore, stand firm.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: Did Christ stand firm? Did He ever waver? No. No. No.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: Did He ever compromise? No. Did He ever sin?
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: No. He who knew no sin, says the Bible. He
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: was without sin, the perfect high priest. Jesus Christ then
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: is the model. And He stood firm against it all
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: and never violated God.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: Persecuted? Yes. Did He fall?
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: No.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: Did he compromise? No. Tempted? Yes. Did he fall?
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: No.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: Did he sin? No.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Put through all kinds of trials of life? Did he
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: crumble under those trials, collapse, lose his confidence in God,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: and wander around looking for a human fix? No.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: He stood firm.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: And since he is the prize and the goal of
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: our life, And since we are citizens of heaven, and
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: since someday we will be like him, and that is
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: our present desire, we therefore must do as he did,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: stand firm.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: Stand firm.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: The second thing you notice here is not only the
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: connection with the third chapter, but the second thing you
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: notice in verse 1 is the pastoral spirit of Paul.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: This is a strong command. And what he is going
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: to say is kind of a staccato command. exhortation because
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: he gives them short, direct commands related to this single command.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: But in the middle of this rather militaristic kind of
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: terminology and this very direct, confrontive approach, would you please
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: notice the graciousness and the loving spirit that this man
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: has toward these people?
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: Look again at verse 1.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: My beloved brethren, whom I long for, My joy and crown.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: And then he concludes, my beloved. It almost gets gushy.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: But it isn't. It is real.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: It is not contrived. It is not manipulative. It is
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: not dishonest. It is not flattery. It is his heart.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Look at it.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: My beloved brethren. My beloved brethren. And he uses the
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: strong word for love. The rich and deep word for love.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: He does love them in a very special and unique way.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: And back in chapter 1, we noted that. he's so
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: thankful for them there's something about them that elicits deep
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: affection out of his heart in chapter 1 verse 8
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: he says that in fact in chapter 1 verse 23
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: to 25 he says frankly I'd rather go to heaven
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: but you need me so much I'll stay that.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: Is a major concession.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Of love. He deeply loves them. He acknowledges that love
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: even in chapter 2 and how He is concerned about them.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: In chapter 4, He expresses the tremendous bond that He
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: feels because in verse 15 He says, you're the ones
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: who helped Me. No one else did. He does love them.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: He loves them deeply. And there's a bond there. Now
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: listen to me. There's a bond of love that does
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: not preclude such a command. There's a bond of love
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: that invites that command, right? Have we not said that
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: to our children on numerous occasions? I'm telling you this
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: because I love you, because I care about you. And
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: then he adds in verse 1, whom I long for.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: Or whom I desire more.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: And the word expresses that he felt the deep pain
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: of separation.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: From those he loved.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Paul was a paragon, obviously, of intellectual capability. He was
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: a master of systems. He was a logician without equal.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: He was a supreme theologian. But he was also a
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: man of deep passion and had a capacity to love people.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: And that package was the best. Here you see the
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: passion of his heart.
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: I long for you. He was a man who cherished relationships.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: Some people get along without him, not him. He deeply
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: felt the pain of separation. They were his love. They
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: were his love.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Then he says, not only are you my love, verse 1,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: you're my joy. And I guess that kind of goes together.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: What do you mean you're my joy? Well, you give
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: me joy. The joy of my heart is over you.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: He didn't get his joy out of his circumstances. That
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: would be hard to do since he was at this
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: particular point chained to a Roman soldier. as a Roman
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: prisoner in a private house in Rome, writing this epistle.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: He didn't get his personal joy out of circumstances. That
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: would have been very difficult to do, not only because
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: of the physical, but even because of the things going
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: on around him, such as people criticizing him mercilessly, of
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: which he speaks in chapter 1, who were supposing to
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: add affliction to his bonds. No, he had very difficult circumstances.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: He never gave much thought to them, but he found
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: his joy in people. And he found his joy in
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: the people that loved him.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: And that he loved.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: He found his joy in his flock. You're my joy.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: He said the same thing to the Thessalonians. When He
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: wrote 1 Thessalonians 2.19, He says,' Who is our hope
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: or joy or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even You?'
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: Then in verse 20,' For You are our glory and joy.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: And He relates it to the second coming.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: You' re my joy now, and You'll be my supreme joy
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: when I see You in the presence of our Christ.'
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: My joy is seeing Your salvation. My joy is seeing
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Your growth. And that's why I'm saying this to you.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: I'm not browbeating you. I'm affectionately exhorting you. Then he says,
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: you're my crown. That is a wonderful statement. Not diadema, diadem,
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: not a kingly crown. Stephanos, a laurel wreath. Basically in
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: that culture, two people received.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: A laurel wreath.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: One was the athlete who won an event and they
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: gave him a laurel wreath to wear. That was the
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: corruptible crown Paul said the runner gets in 1 Corinthians 9.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: But there was another person who got a laurel wreath,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: and that would be a man who was honored by
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: his peers. A great feast or banquet would be held,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: and this man would be brought as the guest of honor,
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: and as the guest of honor, he would receive a
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: laurel wreath. And what does Paul mean when he says
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: to the Philippians and to the Thessalonians, you are my crown?
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: He means you are my reward. The wreath was a trophy.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: The trophy, in a sense, said this man has lived
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: a fruitful life. The trophy in a track meet says
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: this man has run a great race. Paul says, you're
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: my trophy. You're the proof of my effective service.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: You're my crown.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: You're the reward that says this has been an effective life. Boy,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: that's rich commendation. What affirmation Paul gives to these dear people.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: It's just what he said to the Corinthians. You are
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: the seal of my apostleship.
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: 1 Corinthians 9.2. You're the validation of my life.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: You're my love. You're my joy. You're the proof of
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: my ministry. And then he closes by saying, my beloved again.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: That's rich affirmation. He says, I love you. I love
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: you so much I long to be with you. I
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: long to be with you because you're the source of
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: my joy and you are my reward.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: Every pastor can say that if his heart is right.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: I can say that I love you as God's people
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: given to me, for the love you have given to
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: me and the love we share through these years. And
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: I long for you and absence from you for any
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: prolonged period of time causes my heart to yearn to
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: be with you. There is the sense in which, too,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: you are my joy, for my joy is found not
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: in my circumstances but in the fruit of ministry, and
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: that becomes the laurel wreath. Sometimes people send me a
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: plaque about something. Sometimes people honor me in some way,
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: but the truth is that the validation, the affirmation of
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: any man's life.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: Are those people that God has used him to touch.
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: You are my crown. I understand what he's saying.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: So bathed in this deep and emotional love is this
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: tremendous command, rising, stand firm in the Lord. As sensitive,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: as warm, as soft, as gentle as the terminology is
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: around it, it is the opposite.
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: It is firm. It is strong. It is resolute. I
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: want your spiritual stability.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: The question comes, how? And that draws us to a
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: little word in verse 1, the only word I haven't mentioned, so.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: This is why I love to exegete the Scripture, taking
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: every word.
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: You just can't miss any of it. This is hutos
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: in the Greek. It means thus or in this way.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: That unlocks everything.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: Because you are my beloved, I want you to stand
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: firm in the Lord in this way.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: That's what so means. Like this. And then he goes
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: on to explain how. And verses 2 through.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: 9 are extremely basic, practical principles.
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: For spiritual stability.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: And beloved, Paul has, under the genius of the Holy Spirit,
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: collected here the solution to the entire spiritual struggle. It's
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: all pulled together. You want to be a spiritually strong
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Christian and stable? You have to learn the principles that
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: are here. I believe it's all in the Word of God.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: It is all in the Word of God. For every
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: difficulty and every stress, it's all here. In fact, in
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: In sort of a capsule form, it's all here in
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: these nine verses. Because I am convinced that the resolution
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: to everything in this matter of spiritual stability goes right
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: back to.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: How you think about God. Did you get that?
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: To how you think about God. And everything Paul says
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: ties in and relates to that. So over the next
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks, we are going to learn about spiritual stability.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: And we're going to work our way through the principles
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: that Paul gives so that we might be spiritually stable.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: This is the pastoral heart. This is what must be
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: done in the church.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: I want to say as a footnote, I believe our
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: church is more stable than most And I thank God
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: for that.
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: But we're not all that we ought to be. Let's
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: not be under any illusion. about that. None of us is.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: And this must be the objective of our ministry. You
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: remember early in the book of Acts, in chapter 11
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: and verse 23, it says in verse 22, and the
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: And they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: had come and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: remain true to the Lord. That's what every pastor does.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: You encourage your people with a resolute heart to remain
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: true to the Lord. That's spiritual stability. That's what Barnabas did.
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: It wasn't just Barnabas. Peter had that as a goal.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: In 2 Peter 3, 17, he says, You therefore, beloved,
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: knowing this beforehand, be on your guard, lest being carried
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: your own steadfastness.
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: Peter says, don't fall, stay firm.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: You come into the 14th chapter of Acts, verse 22,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Paul is strengthening the souls of the disciples saying, encouraged
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: them to continue in the faith. And he said to them,
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: So he strengthened them. He encouraged them, told them to
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: expect tribulation. That's just ministerial function. Paul wrote to the Galatians.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: He says, look, for freedom, Christ has set us free.
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: Chapter 5, verse 1. Don't you fall back, but stand firm.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: Don't fall back into Judaistic legalism. In Colossians 4, Epaphras
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: is praying that you would stand firm, complete in the
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: will of God. That's a cry throughout the New Testament.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: I was thinking, too, of 1 Thessalonians, isn't it, in
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: chapter 3, verse 8?
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: He says, for now.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: We really live if you stand firm in the Lord.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Now there's a pastor's heart. You want to make my
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: life enjoyable? Stand fast in the Lord.
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: Don't waver. Don't fall.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: 2 Thessalonians 2.15. So then, brethren, stand firm and hold
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: to the traditions which.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: You were taught. Don't waver from the truth. That's the command.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: I suppose the most familiar expression comes in these words. Therefore,
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast. What's the next word?
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: Unmovable.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: Always abounding in the work of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15, 58.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: It was Peter's concern, the concern of Paul, the concern
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: of James, the concern of Jesus, the concern of Jude
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: and John, the concern of the Holy Spirit and of
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: God Himself that we have spiritual stability. The question obviously
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: has to be answered, how? And we are going to
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: endeavor to go deeply into the things of this chapter
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: that can teach us how. That's for next time. Lord,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: we have been blessed in this fellowship this morning.
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: And we are thankful.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: The beauty of the songs we sung and the encouragement
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: to our hearts of the prayers and the scripture. And
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: now the refreshment of the precious word has enriched us.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: We thank you. And now, Lord, we would come to
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: a point of commitment. Work in our hearts. While your
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: heads are bowed, just in a moment of prayer. May
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: I ask you to pray to God yourself and say, Lord,
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: I want to be spiritually stable. And in these days
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: and weeks to come, help me to learn the principles
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: of stability and apply them. Prepare my heart. Will you
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: pray that prayer? Lord, I want to be spiritually stable.
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: Help me learn these principles and apply them. Father, that
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: is our prayer, that this church might stand firm against
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: all that comes, not for our sakes, but that your
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: name might be glorified.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: Amen. You've been listening to John MacArthur, Bible teacher with
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: Grace To You.
• 44:27
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• 44:30
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• 44:41
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• 44:43
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• 44:48
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