45
Song number
245 as our first song the old account was settled. Let's all stand together for this first song if you're able
Song number two hundred and forty five the old account was settled all together nice and strong on that first verse
There was a time on earth
When in the book of him an old account was standing for sins yet unforgiveness
My name was at the top and many things below
I went into the keeper and settled long ago long ago
long ago
Yes, the old account was settled long ago hallelujah and the records clear today
When the old account was settled long ago
The old account was large and growing every day
For I was always sitting and never tried to pay
But when I looked ahead and saw such pain and woe I said that I would settle I settled long ago
long ago
Yes, the old account was settled long ago hallelujah and the records clear today
When the old account was settled long ago
When in that happy home my Savior's home above
I'll sing redemptive story and praise him for his love
I'll not forget that book with pages white as snow
Because I came and settled and settled long ago long ago
long ago
Yes, the old account was settled long ago hallelujah
Oh
For he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago
Oh
Sinner trust the Lord be cleansed of all your sin for the sea half provided
For you to enter in and then if you should live a hundred years below
Up there, you'll not regret it. You settled long ago long ago
Yes, the old account was settled long ago
My sins away when the old account was settled long ago
Amen wonderful scene. Let's start up our service with a word of prayer
Your Lord God Heavenly Father. I thank you for giving us this day
This time that we have to come here to your house Lord to hear the preaching of your word
And I thank you for our pastor who preaches
To us week in and week out where the things that he preaches are popular or not Lord, and I thank you
Of course first and foremost for our salvation Lord
And I thank you for those that were saved out there today as such you please bless this service as we're here tonight
I said you please fill pastor with your spirit as he preaches your word. They may preach boldly and
Effectively Lord and that he may edify us by your word and I said you would please give us your spirit also Lord
Then we may have ears to hear in Jesus name. I pray amen
All right, you may be seated
Please turn your songbooks to song number one hundred and fifty two
Song number one hundred and fifty two security
Song number one hundred and fifty two all together on that first verse
More secure is no one ever
Than the loved ones of the Savior not yon star on high
abiding nor the bird in
homeness I
Got his own
doth tend and nourish in his holy
courts, they flourish
like a father
Kind he spares them in his loving
Arms he bears them
neither life nor death can ever
from the Lord his
children sever for his love and deep compassion
Comfort them in
Tribulation
little flock to joy then yield thee
Jacob's God will ever shield thee rest secure with this
defender at his will
all foes surrender
What he takes or what he gives us shows the father's love so
Precious we may trust his purpose
Holy tears his children's welfare solely
All right, great seeing thank you for being here this evening just a few announcements here before we sing our next song
Which will be song number 100 day by day song number 100 in your songbooks
Just a few announcements. Of course
Our services are as follow Sunday morning at 1030 Sunday evening at 5 p.m
And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock
You see there at the bottom we have the fall program schedule today was the catered birthday breakfast for all of those in October
Happy birthday to you all and then next week. We have the fall family photos. So make sure you bring your family and
We'll have pictures at 945 and so be here nice and early to get your photos taken with your family
And then we'll get you we'll give you your photo the following week. And so just keep that in mind
Following week after that's pumpkin Sunday. Then we have the pie baking contest
We'll get you the rules to that as the closer we get to the date there and then on October 9th. We also have
Along with the fall family photos. We have the Christmas program
Practices that's when they begin if you have any questions about that. You can see brother Maury lemons
He's gonna be heading up and the Christmas
Play team there and so he'll have all those answers for you
Ladies prayer meeting coming up and cookie exchange on Saturday, October
29th be sure to keep track of all your points
Okay
So all three services going so many once a week bringing a first or second time visitor third time visitor
Make sure you keep track of those and then next week. We're gonna pass out the quarter sheets
You're gonna be able to fill that out. Of course. We're using the honor system here
All right
and then we'll be make sure to keep track of that and then we'll announce all the winners on the
22nd for the annual Thanksgiving banquet and then you have the rewards there at the bottom
No food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee
No loitering in the foyer fellowship hall during the preaching service
And of course quiet time is from 3 p.m. To 4 15 throughout the whole building
Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service
Let's go ahead and take some Sony numbers for this past week any salvations from Monday to Thursday salvations from Monday to Thursday
How about Friday and Saturdays salvations for Friday and Saturday three for Riverside to anybody else
Anybody else? Okay. How about this afternoon salvations for this afternoon?
Or okay one one for the hikes team anybody else going once
two for brother Morris team
Did I miss anybody going once twice thrice?
Okay, keep up the great work on soul winning at this time. You can we're not playing the piano yet brother Eric
We got a little bit of family time. I'm gonna talk about a couple things before we get into the next song. So brother
Mark if you could hit that
You
Song number 100 day by day
Is our third song song number 100
All together on that first verse day by day
And with each passing moment
Strength I find to meet my trials here
Trusting in my father's wise bestowment
I've no cause for worry or for fear
He who saw his kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what he deems best
Lovingly it's part of pain and pleasure
Mingling toil with peace and rest
Every day the Lord himself is near me with a
special mercy for each hour
All my cares he fame would bear and cheer me
He whose name is counselor and power
The protection of his child and treasure
Is a charge that on himself he laid
As I gaze thy strength shall be in measure
This the pledge to me he made
Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust thy promises, O Lord
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within thy holy Word
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting
Ere to take as from a father's hand
One by one the day's the moment's fleeting
Till I reach the promised land
Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time the ushers will come forth to collect the offering.
And you can turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter number four.
Thank you.
Good evening. We're in Philippians chapter number four tonight.
Philippians chapter number four in the Bible reads,
Therefore my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown,
so longed for in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for,
my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
I beseech Eudias and beseech Syntyche
that they be of the same mind in the Lord, and I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow,
help those women which labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement also,
and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the Book of Life.
Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God which passeth all understanding
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report,
if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do,
and the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoice in the Lord greatly,
that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again,
wherein ye were also careful but ye lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.
I could do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,
notwithstanding ye have well done that ye did communicate with my affliction.
Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel,
which I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me
as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity,
not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
But I have all and abound. I am full, having received of Ephrataudias
the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell,
a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.
But my God shall supply all your needs according to the riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Now unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Salute every saint in Christ Jesus, the brethren which are with me greet you.
All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Let's pray.
Dear Lord God, thank you for the church you've given us, Lord, and for the people within this church.
And we thank you for pastor, Lord, we pray that you bless him and fill him with your spirit, Lord,
as he preaches your word tonight and that we have ears to hear
and that we are receptive to the preaching of your word, Lord.
And just bless the service, every aspect of it, and bless the prayer and fellowship to follow, Lord.
We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now this is taking place in verse 21 of chapter 3. He's talking about the resurrection.
He says, Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like into his glorious body,
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Now this is explicitly talking about the resurrection, that one day we will resurrect.
I talked about that this morning, the matter of glorification and receiving a new body.
And then he says, Therefore, because of the fact that God will change our vile body,
because there's going to be a resurrection, it's for that reason that we should stand fast in the Lord.
In other words, this is essentially what the Apostle Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 15,
where he says, Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
And of course, that is also in context of the resurrection.
So when we think about the resurrection, we think about the fact that we're going to get glorified bodies.
We think of the fact that our body is going to be transfigured and become glorious, absent of sin.
A lot of interesting things about that particular doctrine, right?
But what it should do, it should move us to be persistent and determined in the Christian life.
And one of the reasons why God reiterates and teaches so much about the resurrection
is because he wants it to be a motivation for us to stay in the service of the Lord.
You understand? You know, a lot of Christians, unfortunately, they quit the Christian life sometimes.
And I don't mean they quit believing in God or quit believing in the Bible.
You know, they're saved, but they just stop serving him.
They stop making him the most important thing in their lives.
They get out of church, they stop reading the Bible.
They begin living carnal lives, and it's essentially the opposite of what we see here.
They're not standing fast in the Lord.
And you say, why is that? Well, because the Christian life isn't easy.
If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Amen?
If the Christian life as serving God was easy,
then every Christian after salvation would automatically sign up and get involved in the work of the Lord.
But it's not easy. There are difficulties.
The Christian life is not a bed of roses.
No, it's very fulfilling, and there are times of peace.
There's times of great joy and fulfillment in the Christian life.
To be honest with you, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
I mean, the Christian life is the greatest life to live.
It's a blessing. There's so many benefits to the Christian life.
And you know, the Bible tells us that God loads us daily with benefits.
He tells us that the blessing of the Lord and maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow to it.
I mean, there's no comparison to what we receive in the Lord here in the Christian life
compared to what the world has to offer.
We esteem the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the pleasures of sin for a season.
This is the attitude that we should have as Christians.
And so that should motivate us to stand fast in the Lord.
Knowing full well that there's an end to all these things should motivate us to stick it out.
To be in this thing for the long haul, to keep winning souls to Christ,
to keep leading your families, being in church, reading your Bible, serving the Lord,
being a blessing to others when it's difficult, when it's easy, when it's hard,
we should always stand fast in the Lord.
And notice he says in verse number one, he says,
My brother and dealer beloved and longed for my joy and crown.
So a lot of times the Apostle Paul refers to his converts as crowns.
Now why is that? Well, because crowns in the Bible are essentially referring to rewards.
And crowns are also significant of authority.
And we know that some of the rewards that we're going to get in the millennial reign is to reign over the nations.
And so part of getting those rewards is winning people to Christ.
Teaching people about righteousness, winning people to Christ.
And he's telling them there, stand fast in the Lord, don't quit, keep going forward.
And this is a message that we need today in 2022.
And throughout the ages, telling Christians don't quit.
If it gets hard in your marriage, don't quit.
If it gets hard with child rearing, don't quit.
If it gets hard at your job, don't quit.
If it gets hard in church, don't quit.
If persecution comes to our church, don't quit.
Don't be a little sissy and just quit.
Don't throw in the towel, stick it out.
Be steadfast, unmovable. Listen to this.
Always abounding in the work of the Lord.
God wants us to labor as we're fighting, labor as we're going through tribulation, labor as we suffer sometimes.
He wants us to do both.
And of course there's a lot of benefits to that.
We become stronger as Christians, but we also are able to endure the hardships of life and earn rewards because of it.
So he says, therefore, make sure you're standing fast in the Lord.
Now, verse two and three is kind of a funny little passage, okay?
I'm going to explain to you why.
He says in verse number two, I beseech Eodias and beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
And I entreat thee also true yoke, fellow, help those women which labor with me in the gospel with Clement also,
and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life.
Now you say, why is that funny?
Well, Eodias and Syntyche are women in the church.
And the implication here is that they're not getting along.
So he's like, I'm begging Eodias and I'm begging Syntyche that they just be of the same mind in the Lord.
And if I were to speculate what's going on here, there's probably some conflict between these women in church.
I don't know how that would happen, of course.
That's weird.
Women fighting in church, that's kind of weird.
Is this only something that happened in first century AD or is this common or what?
Of course it's common.
And look, the Bible specifically tells us that they are women whose names are written in the book of life,
which is another way of saying what?
That they're saved.
So it's not like they're wicked people.
They're not reprobates or anything like that.
They're just women who are fighting in the church, I guess.
And you say, why does the apostle Paul bring this up?
Is there a lot of ladies in this church?
Quite possibly because when you read in the book of Acts and specifically chapter 16 where the church at Philippi was started,
you see that he comes to Philippi and there's a group of women who are praying together.
And he kind of joins himself to that group there.
So there's already women believers there, female believers there at Philippi.
And of course we don't know what the church at Philippi is comprised of.
If it's predominantly female with a couple males, we don't know.
But from the looks of Acts chapter 16, it looks like there's a lot of women in the church there.
Not a problem. That's a good thing.
They're believers. They're praying together.
They might have been praying for someone to start a church there.
And of course the apostle Paul joins with them.
He gets arrested. And then through that ordeal, he ends up preaching the gospel to the Philippian jailer,
which is where we get our famous sowning passage.
What must I do to be saved?
And they said unto them, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.
So he gets the Philippian jailer saved. He gets his household saved.
A lot of people are getting saved there.
But it looks like maybe there's just a lot of ladies in the church.
And you say, is this applicable to us today? Of course.
Sometimes not just ladies, sometimes men who act like ladies sometimes,
they get in conflicts and they start fighting one another or whatever for dumb reasons.
This is why in the book of Philippians, he's constantly emphasizing the importance of what?
Unity. Having unity in the church.
And what does unity mean?
It's you putting your differences aside.
Let us have differences with the world because the world is different from us.
The world's ideologies are different. Let them be that way.
Let us have conflict with them, but there should be no conflict in the local New Testament church.
We should have unity in the church.
And you know what? If you have differences with someone else in church, put those aside for the sake of the work.
For the sake of attending church, you're like, well, so-and-so offended me.
Yeah, but you probably offended someone else though.
So, I mean, what's up?
You know, you're going to offend someone and that other person is going to have someone else that offends them.
That's just the way life is.
And you know what? There's a commandment in the Bible, multiple commandments in the Bible to forgive one another.
And we wouldn't know the joy of forgiving and of being forgiven if there wasn't conflict.
Understand?
So take advantage of the conflicts to exercise your Christianity to forgive and to enjoy the pleasure of being forgiven, the privilege of being forgiven.
So he tells them, you know, hey guys, you know, Iodias and Syntyche, tell them they need to get along.
Tell them they need to be of one mind.
And obviously it's a big deal if he has to write about it.
He's like calling them out by name.
Okay.
It's like, let's just give an example.
Let's say I'm going to use my wife for an example.
I'll use the staff wives, for example, so I don't offend anybody else in their church.
Let's say my wife Sarah and Vanessa are just like fighting.
You know, they're just constantly bickering at each other.
They're fighting. They're not of the same mind.
And one's like, my husband's better than your husband.
And he's like, well, my husband can lift more than you.
And then he's like, well, my husband's taller than your husband.
You know, it's just like kind of going back and forth.
And they're just bickering over nonsensical things.
This would be like, you know, you know, the Lord coming and saying,
Hey, tell Vanessa and Sarah to be of the same mind.
Okay. And not start strife.
You know, be of unity. Get along.
Grow up. Amen. Amen.
You know, be adults about situations.
Don't be little high school girls and have cliques and bicker and fight with one another.
Okay. Be of the same mind.
Be of the same mind.
And look, it looks like Eodias and Syntyche, you know, even though they're not getting along,
these are people who are actually laboring in the church.
They're soul winners.
People who know how to preach the gospel.
He says, I entreat the also true yoke fellow, help those women,
which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also,
and with other, my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life.
He's like, he's telling the other believers in the church, help these ladies to get along.
Okay. And that's what I'm trying to do tonight.
I'm trying to help the ladies in our church to get along.
And I don't think there's any conflict.
You know, if there was, it's probably going to end tonight.
Okay. But, you know, for future reference,
if there's ever a conflict between you and someone, some other lady in our church,
you know, grow up, walk in the spirit, go make it right.
Get along. Don't fight.
This isn't high school. This isn't junior high.
You know, well, you know, they offended someone that I love.
Okay, then let them deal with that.
Okay. Don't be like someone who's just taking a dog by the ears
by getting involved in someone else's business either.
Okay. And so, you know, he's telling them this.
And of course, as I mentioned in verse three, the letter in verse three,
he says, whose names are in the book of life.
Now, let me just make a couple of comments about that particular phrase there.
As I mentioned, when it, when it's stating that,
it's basically saying that they're saved.
And let me explain something.
When we talk about the book of life,
when the Bible talks about the book of life,
we often see it scattered throughout the Bible,
but more specifically in the book of Revelation,
you know, people have this misconception that when someone gets saved,
they are automatically written in the book of life thereafter.
And that's the common teaching amongst Baptist churches and Christians.
As soon as someone gets saved, it's like,
I mean, we have, we sing a song, right?
There's a new name written down in glory.
It's a great song, but it's just not necessarily accurate.
Okay. This is actually the way it works.
Okay. Every human being's name actually starts off in the book of life.
Okay. So every human being that has ever lived
starts off already written in the book of life.
You say, how can that be?
Well, because God is not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
It's like God's act of faith and humanity hoping
that they actually get saved.
The only time they are blotted out,
because the Bible doesn't record about,
doesn't record anybody being written in the book of life
and only records people being blotted out,
which indicates that they started off at the book of life.
When they die and go to hell without Christ,
they are blotted out of the book of life.
Or if they become a reprobate this side of eternity,
they're blotted out of the book of life.
So people are blotted out for different reasons.
Number one, they die without Christ.
Number two, they become a reprobate this side of eternity
and then they're blotted out.
Number three, they blaspheme the Holy Ghost,
become a reprobate, get blotted out.
Number four, they take from or they add to or remove from God's word
their blood out of the book of life.
Okay. And number five, I don't know what number I'm on.
This one is actually more so for the end times
when they take the mark of the beast.
They're automatically blotted out of the book of life.
Okay. Now, if you're saved today,
you don't have to worry about ever getting blotted out
because essentially once you get saved,
your name is permanently embedded within its registry.
You understand?
You're permanently registered in the book of life.
It can never be removed thereafter.
And look, this basically coincides with what Roman 7 teaches
regarding children.
You see, children when they're born,
it's very much that they have like original sin.
And that's why they baptize babies
because they claim like if a baby doesn't get baptized
and they die, they go to hell, which is complete heresy.
Okay. What the Bible actually teaches
is that a child from the time that they're born
to the time that they're slain by the law,
by the commandment, they're essentially,
their spirit is still alive.
Okay. In other words, if they were to die
in that innocent state,
they would automatically go to heaven
even though they have not yet received the gospel
because they don't understand the gospel.
Okay. But they reach an age of accountability.
Don't ask me what that number is
because the Bible doesn't tell us.
Everyone always tells me like, what age is that?
It's like it's different for everyone.
Okay. It's when someone recognizes
that they're sinner before God,
that they've committed sins against God,
that they deserve hell, they have these understandings,
then the law slays them.
And at that point, their spirit becomes dead
and trespasses and sin.
Okay. And then they need their spirit
to be quickened or brought back to life.
And that happens when they believe on Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit of God comes to regenerate
their dead spirit, brings it to life
and now they're saved.
Okay. But their name remains in the book of life
even when their spirit is slain.
So their name starts off in the book of life.
When their spirit is slain, it stays in the book of life.
Until the bitter end.
Because God's hope is that that person,
that child when they grow up,
will one day believe on Jesus Christ
and therefore the name could never be removed thereafter.
Okay. But obviously we live in a real world
where unfortunately people are blotted out
when they die or even previous to that.
Okay. And so, you know, you say,
well, how do I know if someone is blotted out
of the book of life?
Well, you know, right?
How do I know if someone is blotted out
of the book of life?
Well, you know, reprobates, sodomites,
false prophets. Okay.
These are individuals who have been
blotted out of the book of life.
Okay. You say name a few.
Okay. You know, Joe Olsteen, blotted out.
Okay. Rick Warren, blotted out.
John MacArthur, blotted out.
Okay. Why?
Because they purposely teach a false gospel
which is an indicator that they are a false prophet
which means that they've been blotted out
of the book of life.
So that's what that means there.
He says whose names are written in the book of life
or whose names are in the book of life.
Excuse me.
That's referring to the fact that they're saved.
Verse number four says rejoice in the Lord always
and again I say rejoice.
So this is a great commandment here
that sometimes Christians overlook
and often they overlook this
because they think that, you know,
the Christian life is just hard.
It's just boring.
It's just like you just go to church.
You got to read your Bible.
It's just like they make Bruce a good boy
type of attitude.
Whereas the Bible actually says
rejoice in the Lord.
And again, I say rejoice.
What does it mean to rejoice?
It means to be happy.
It means to have joy.
So this is actually a command of the Lord.
Now look, where's Paul writing this from?
Prison.
And he's telling the people who are not in prison,
hey, you need to rejoice.
Now, if there's anyone who could talk,
it's the apostle Paul during his time.
Yes, we have to because this guy's rejoicing
and he's in prison.
He's on house arrest or whatever.
He's restricted from going out, coming in,
but he's telling us to rejoice.
And it says this, rejoice in the Lord.
Does it say rejoice in your finances,
rejoice in your resources,
rejoice in your nice car,
rejoice in, you know, the things of this world,
the possessions of this world.
Be happy when you're able to add
this new addition to your vehicle
or when you're able to get a raise.
You know, these are things to be happy about,
but the Bible specifically says
we should rejoice in the Lord
because what if all those things
are taken away from us?
You better learn to rejoice in the Lord.
And you say, well, how do I rejoice in the Lord?
I'm depressed, how do I rejoice in the Lord?
Tell me.
Well, one, you can thank God and rejoice
over the fact that you're saved
because if you're saved, you have eternal life,
you're going to heaven, you know,
your worst day here is still
because that's like, that's all they're going to get.
Whereas you, you have eternity,
you have heaven, you have millennial rain,
you have a new earth.
I mean, we have God as our God, you understand?
And so rejoice in the Lord always.
And again, I say rejoice.
And look, I'm not saying that this comes easy all the time.
There's times of mourning, difficulty, trial, weeping,
you know, times where we're just sad
and these are appropriate things.
These are appropriate emotions for humans,
specifically Christians to have, of course.
But in general, we should be a happy people, okay?
Don't be a stick in the mud.
When you come to church, smile.
When you come to church, laugh a little bit.
I want doctrine.
Give me doctrine, you know, sing sad songs.
You know, we need to get serious about this.
I'm all for being serious about the things of the Lord,
but I'm for you also showing your teeth and smiling
and showing people that you're rejoicing in the Lord.
And again, I say rejoice.
And look, I'm not saying that this comes easy all the time.
Look, God even laughs, my friend, okay?
Even God has a sense of humor.
I know why he's amen-ing because there's a...
I'm not gonna tell you what he's laughing at, okay?
He laughs at the calamity of the wicked, okay?
That's why Moses is amen-ing, okay?
Because he knows what it's about.
What I'm saying is that, you know,
you should be able to have a good time.
And you know what?
I'm not this kind of Christian where it's just like,
it's just all work and no fun
because folks, I love laughing.
I love having a good time.
I love rejoicing.
I love being with the brethren.
I like just rejoicing in the work of the Lord in church
because it is a joy to be a Christian.
We don't need drugs.
We don't need alcohol.
We don't need, you know,
the things of this world to make us happy.
There's people who are like that.
There's all kind of Christians just like, you know,
what do you mean you don't have alcohol in your wedding?
How are you going to have fun?
Apple cider?
That's fun, my friends.
Hey, I'm looking forward to the Thanksgiving banquet,
my friends.
That's when we have like 50 bottles of apple cider.
Sparkling cider.
We're just drinking sparkling cider all night long.
That's fun.
I enjoy sitting next to my brethren,
eating, talking, fellowshipping,
dressing up, just having a good time
because that's what God wants.
The Christian life, that's what it's about as well.
It's about you having a good time.
Okay?
Don't be a stick in the mud and just like,
no, you guys laugh too much.
Well, you just don't laugh enough.
Okay?
And I'm going to live longer than you.
Now, obviously, there's times when we need to be serious.
There's times when, you know,
I'm throwing someone out.
We got to be serious, you know.
There's times when I'm just ripping someone
because they just serve me.
Yeah, obviously, those times, you know,
that's what it's about.
And so he says there, rejoice in the Lord.
When? Always.
And again, I say rejoice.
And obviously, that was said before
even in chapter three and verse one.
He says, finally, my brother rejoiced in the Lord.
Look at verse five.
Let your moderation be known unto all men.
The Lord is at hand.
What is he saying?
You know, let your temperance, let your self-control,
let your conduct essentially be made known unto all men.
May people see that you can rejoice,
you can be well in unity,
you're getting along.
Be an example to the believers.
Now, verse six is a great verse,
verse six and seven,
because it is the formula
by which we can avoid anxiety, care.
And let me just say this.
We live in a world where people
are literally paralyzed by anxiety.
Okay?
You get anxiety attacks.
You get panic attacks.
You become so worried
that they're just paralyzed.
I mean, this is a thing.
Okay?
They get social anxiety.
You know, I'm sure there's people
who come to our church and they just,
so many people are just like,
you know, you just like don't know,
like, should I go into the church?
I'm not gonna go into the church.
Okay, there's so many people.
Oh, man, they're looking at me.
I gotta go.
You know, it's just like,
anxiety is very foreign to me.
When I get there, I'm just like,
let's get this party started, you know?
I thrive with big groups.
I love when there's people and noise
and all that, I love that stuff.
But there's other people who are
on the opposite side who are just
like major introverts who suffer
from a lot of anxiety, okay?
And, you know, they have social anxiety
or they experience some sort of
traumatic thing in their life
that has made them anxious,
where if they think about something,
they get nervous, they begin to tremble,
you know, they have all these physical
outward manifestations of their anxiety.
You know, these are things that
although can be tied to that
which is physical, okay,
you know, like a physical ailment,
but sometimes it's just a matter
of how you're thinking.
It's the way you think, okay?
And I'm not saying that if you have anxiety,
like, you only have to do this, okay?
Because sometimes anxiety is
the panic attacks and all those things
are a health issue.
You know, like too much caffeine.
You're like, I don't know why I have
so much anxiety as you're pounding
like four bangs, amen?
You know, you got four cups of coffee,
you're drinking something that's
basically the equivalent to Coke
or something, crack or whatever,
and you're just like, I don't know
why I'm feeling this way and I'm just trembling.
It's just like, whoa, you know,
you're kind of OD-ing on caffeine, my friend.
I'm like, actually, why?
You need to just chill out
on the caffeine ministry there
and maybe your anxiety will go down
a little bit and you're just like,
you know, you're just...
That could be it, you know?
Or your body's just reacting
to no physical activity as well.
Sometimes that could be the case.
And, you know, I'm for physical activity
and I remove all my anxiety
and I remove all excuses
in our church for that
because I even put a gym here
in the back where you can get
some physical activity in
to deal with your anxiety, amen?
You know, go do some squats,
some deadlifts, some bench press
or, you know, God gave you two legs.
You can use that to go run or something.
You know, obviously we needed...
Look, we're mind, body and spirit.
So when we have like an issue,
we got to view it from those three
specific things and see, okay,
you know, should I cut it down
to four monsters?
Should I cut it down to only two?
Should I, you know...
Probably, yeah, you know.
Or it's like, am I not getting
enough physical activity?
Should I go exercise?
Do I need to go run?
Do I need to go lift weights?
Do I need to do something,
play a sport or whatever it may be?
But once you've done all that
and you're still kind of suffering,
it's probably just like a mental thing.
You're guilty of, listen to this,
overthinking.
Okay, and we all deal with that
one time or another.
We overthink some things.
Let's give an extreme example.
It's just like you have a conversation
with someone and then you leave
that conversation and then you overthink,
should I have said that?
What is that person going to think?
Oh man, they're probably thinking,
you know, and then you just go
into this whole...
And then I was the person you spoke to
and I was like...
But sometimes people suffer
from overthinking.
And what I mean by overthinking,
I mean imaginations.
You allow your imaginations
to run wild, okay?
And conjure up these scenarios
that just don't exist at all, okay?
Let me say this.
This is a weakness, my friend,
because as a Christian,
we need to be able to control our thoughts.
The Bible says to gird up the loins
of our mind.
The Bible tells us to cast down imaginations
and every high thing that exalted itself
against the knowledge of God
to bring into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ.
Understand?
This is what we should do as Christians.
Now look, I'm not saying that once you do that
you're no longer going to be an introvert
because, you know, it's okay to be an introvert.
Introverts, there's nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with being an extrovert
or introvert.
That's the way God wired you.
That's another indicator that I'm still struggling
with this anxiety or whatever.
You know, sometimes people are just wired that way.
But when it begins to paralyze you
and impede you from just living a normal life
where you're having 10,000 conversations in your mind
before entering into the church,
because there's a greeter there.
It's just like, I don't remember his name.
What if he gets mad if I don't,
should I call him brother?
What if he's not saved?
Those are all these thoughts or whatever.
And Glenn doesn't even care.
You know, Glenn's there, he's just like,
he's like, when's this guy going to come in, you know?
Overthinking, my friends.
We need to control the way we think
and not overly think.
You know what we should think overly is the Bible.
Think about the Bible.
Think about the word of God, that which is necessary,
that which feeds the mind and the soul.
Not overthink things that are just not real.
Okay?
But here's a good way that if you feel like you're being,
you have so much anxiety, you're worried about the future,
you're worried about, you know, whatever it may be
that's causing you this anxiety or this panic,
here's a good formula for you to use.
Look what it says in verse six.
First and foremost, he says, be careful for nothing.
What is careful?
You're full of care.
Now you say that's easier said than done.
Of course it is.
But it's a command of God.
But and everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
So this is what God wants us to do when we're overly anxious,
when we're worried, full of care.
God says pray.
Let that be a reminder to pray.
Okay?
He says prayer supplication, but listen to this,
with thanksgiving.
So let me just give you an example,
because, you know, there's times in my life
when I struggled with anxiety and, you know,
there's times when it was just like really bad
and it was almost debilitating.
And, you know, I had to just pray and say,
Lord, first of all, thank you for this.
Thank you for this difficulty.
Thank you for this emotion,
because it's moving me, it's making me want to pray
and I need to pray more.
And so thank you for this problem
to which you have the solution for.
Now, Lord, give me the peace that passeth understanding,
because that's what he says in verse number seven.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Now, why does it say a peace that passeth understanding?
Well, because the world, you know,
describes peace as having peace
because something has changed in your life.
Because you got a new car or your bank account is full
or you have X, Y, and Z.
That's how, that's the peace of this world.
Whereas the Bible gives a peace that passeth understanding
where you can have that peace,
even though nothing has changed.
The greeter is the same greeter outside the door.
It's the same people coming to church.
It's the same situation.
Your problems haven't changed.
They haven't gone away.
Your circumstances haven't changed,
but yet you feel peace, okay?
And I don't really know how to describe
this particular feeling.
I've experienced it many times in my life
when I've prayed this,
where it's just like the world
is just falling apart around you
and then you're just cool about it.
Well, I got the peace of God right now
and I don't, you know,
I'm not really losing it right now.
I don't have anxiety.
I'm not worried.
I don't feel full of care.
And obviously this isn't the only thing,
you know, the Bible tells us to cast our care upon him
for he cared for you.
And sometimes it's just a matter of learning.
Listen to this.
Listen to me closely, okay?
You need to learn how to pray to God.
And you say, what do you mean by that?
Like, do I have to say the Lord's prayer
the longer you walk with God,
the more you realize how transparent
you can just be with God.
I'll just be honest with you.
Like, I'm saying you can talk to God
and say, Lord, I'm frustrated.
I'm mad. I'm angry.
I'm even mad at some of the things
that you're doing right now
that I feel like you're allowing
or because you've allowed this into my life.
I'm frustrated. I know it's wrong
for me to be frustrated,
but I'm just telling you this is how I feel,
you know, and I'm scared or I have anxiety.
You know, it's not changed.
It's like you're just talking to God.
Sometimes prayer is too mechanical for people.
Like, Lord, thank you for being my Savior
and fix this. Amen.
You know, God actually wants us
to put some emotion in our prayer.
You know, God actually wants you to pray
like he's actually there.
Oh, the Lord is at hand.
Isn't that what the verse says there?
So he actually wants you to talk to him
not like, oh, heavenly Father,
God and God alone.
He doesn't need you to speak to him
in King James language.
He needs you to talk to him in your language
with your heart.
You need to pour out your heart into the Lord
and say, I'm sad right now.
I'm depressed.
I'm discouraged.
I feel like trash right now.
And you know, this is what I'm going through, Lord.
Give me the peace, the passive understanding.
I know that you love me, but you know what?
I just don't feel it right now.
I'll just be honest with you.
I'm going to believe that you do,
but you know, I'll just be honest.
You don't really feel like you love me right now.
You said, isn't that like irreverential?
No, it's not.
It's you just being real with God
because here's the thing.
Let me let you in on a little secret.
He already knows that that's how you feel.
He's like, I'm not going to tell God that
because I don't want him to think.
I don't want him to know about how I really feel.
Okay, Adam.
Not this Adam, sorry.
He's thinking that he can hide from God or something.
And that's how your emotions are.
It's like you're hiding your emotions from God
and God's like, I already know it.
Just be transparent with God.
You will grow leaps and bounds in your walk with God
once you start learning how to pray like that.
And I'm not saying just be like all flipping with God.
I'm just saying just be honest with him.
He knows exactly how you are.
He knows the words in your heart.
He knows exactly how angry you get,
how sad you are, how depressed, how anxious.
He knows all these things.
You know, when I pray, especially these imprecatory prayers,
I'm like, Lord, I'll kill this dude.
Go away with him.
What's the hold up?
I'm a little impatient right now
and I just let him know how I feel.
And then you know what happens after that?
I feel just that much better.
Okay.
And so prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
is not this mechanical prayer.
It's just like you actually got to pray
and spend time with the Lord.
And look, let me just say this,
is that obviously the model of praying
is often on our knees with our eyes closed,
but it doesn't have to be that way.
You can walk and pray, drive and pray.
Don't close your eyes when you're driving though.
You know, because then you're going to open your eyes
and you're actually going to be there
in the presence of God, you know what I mean?
By faith, yeah.
You know, just pray.
When you're at work and you're going through
a difficult time, you're going through a difficult time
when you're at work and you're going through
a difficult time, whisper a prayer.
You know, you're having problems at work,
you have this implacable customer or something,
you know, pray.
Pray for everything.
Just ask God, talk to God,
and tell him like, I need peace.
Like nothing's changing, so because nothing's changing,
I need you to just give me peace.
And the Bible says that that will keep him
in perfect peace whose mind stayed on thee
because he trusted in me.
The Bible says.
Listen, let's not raise a generation
of just anxious Christians.
Of just careful Christians, full of care.
We need to raise a generation of Christians
who just like walk with God.
Who know how to pray.
They know how to get a hold of God.
You understand?
They can go home and pray in faith,
knowing full well that God is listening to them.
You know?
And just ask God.
Look, it doesn't even have to be about anything
spiritual either, folks.
Even the physical things of this world,
God is concerned with us.
He wants us to, he wants to know,
he wants to know or he wants us to hear him say,
excuse me, he wants us.
He wants to hear us say the things
that we want in this life.
You say like what?
Anything.
Lord, I want a mango.
I can't find mangoes when I go to the,
I've gone, you know, I can't find this.
Help me find a mango, please.
He said, that's silly.
Yeah, that's why you'll never get it.
That's why you'll never find it.
I'll get the mango.
You know what?
You laugh, but I'm being dead serious, my friends.
Because God is even concerned
with even the littlest of things.
You know, my wife would tell me that,
you know, they used to ask their mom,
Mom, we want coconuts.
And she would say, we even got money for coconuts.
So you guys got to pray for coconuts.
They pray for coconuts.
And I'd say, you know what?
God's concerned with even answering
the smallest of prayers,
because he wants to increase our faith in him.
He wants us to pray with all prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving.
And look, if you're praying,
Lord, change this, but he never does,
then just say, okay, at least give me
the peace of God, though,
to pass up understanding.
So then, as you're praying,
Lord, change this, but he never does,
then just say, okay, at least give me
the peace of God, though,
because you're not bothered.
You can sleep at night.
People are like, how's that going?
Same, but I'm cool, though, you know.
I don't feel anxious about it.
I'm not worried about it or anything.
I have the peace of God to pass with understanding.
I'm doing fine.
Because sometimes there's trials in our life
that God doesn't want to remove from us,
because it's just making us better Christians.
Well, how? Well, it's causing you
to pray more, right?
You know, it's causing you to seek the Lord more.
It's causing you to read the Bible more, et cetera.
It's running rampant on Christians nowadays,
where they just can't function as a Christian
because they're just so debilitated
by anxiety or stress or just being worried
and full of care.
We shouldn't be this way.
The formula's right here, okay?
He says in verse eight,
oh, by the way, verse eight is also something else
that you need to do in order not to be anxious.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,
okay, so get rid of all your news outlets.
Get rid of Fox News, MSNBC, all of the talk radio
or YouTube, you know, conspiracy people out there
who are just constantly giving you all this bad news.
Obviously, whatsoever things are true.
Whatsoever things are honest.
Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report.
If there be any virtue, if there be any praise,
think upon these things.
What is it saying?
Most people are just anxious
just because they watch too much stupid things,
too many stupid things.
They're just constantly watching the news,
constantly keeping up with everything that's going on,
constantly worried.
It's just like, just don't watch it.
Think upon the right things
and you won't be suffering from anxiety.
People suffer from anxiety of something
that they read on the news that will never happen to them.
There's people in other states that suffer
from the anxiety of everything that's happening
in California.
They're just like electric cars and news on this
and they're just like,
and here I am in California getting sued,
but I'm good.
I'm just like, whatever.
I have the peace of God, the passive understanding.
But why are people in other states
stressing about what's going on here?
I'll tell you why, because they're constantly on the news,
constantly on the latest conspiracy theory.
That stuff will stress you out
and cause anxiety.
Then you can't sleep at night.
That's all you can talk about.
Think about the right things.
Think about the Bible.
Think about your family.
Think about funny jokes.
Think about memes.
Those things are sometimes true, amen.
Those things which ye have both learned
and received and heard and seen me do
and the God of peace shall be with you.
But I rejoice in the Lord greatly
that now at the last your care of me
hath flourished again wherein ye were
faithful, but ye lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in respect of want,
for I have learned in whatsoever state I am
therewith to be content.
He says I know both how to be abased
and I know how to abound everywhere
and in all things I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.
Now verse 13 is often a verse that liberals
like to use for like everything.
It's just like, I want to be a millionaire.
I can do all things through Christ
with strength.
I often use it in the most unbiblical way, right?
Whereas in context, what he's referring to
is I can suffer hunger and I can be full
because I can do all things through Christ.
I can do both through Christ.
I can serve God when there is lacking,
when I'm lacking resources,
but I can also serve God when I have resources
because I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me, okay?
He says in verse number 14,
now the reason he says that is because
I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.
I know how to be hungry.
I know how to fast.
I know how to eat.
I can do both.
God's taking care of me.
He's encouraging them to give
because people need to learn how to be hungry.
I can do both.
He said this was not a gift
and he says in verse number 14,
not withstanding ye have well done
that ye did communicate with my affliction.
Now communicate, the way it's being used here
is not necessarily we would use it today.
When we think of communicate today
we think about words, right?
But, to communicate would mean to transmit something
and in the Bible when you study that term communicate
6 if you would let me just show you an example of this Galatians chapter number
6 Galatians 6 and verse number 6 says let him that is taught in the word
communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things okay and then he says be
not deceived God is not mocked for what sort of a man so if that's all he also
read we say look if you're being taught God's Word you should communicate
resources to the one who's teaching you the Word of God and don't be deceived
God's not mocked if you're sowing to spiritual things you're gonna reap
spiritual things understand so we see there how the word communicate is being
used it's being used in in regards to monetary things you understand money
offerings etc go back to Philippians and apparently the church at Philippi
communicated with the Apostle Paul in his affliction when he was going through
a tough time maybe there was he was suffering need they saw that as an
opportunity they gave to that and they helped him verse 15 naive Philippians
know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia no
church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but ye
only for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my
necessity excuse me not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit that may abound
to your account so he's kind of bragging on him he's telling like you know when I
started off there's like no church that supported me with money financially he's
like you guys are the only ones who actually like gave to the work here and
helped me and he's the reason he's saying that is because he's like I
desire a gift and he's not saying like I desire a gift like you to give me a gift
he says I desire a gift that may abound to your account because when we give to
the work of the Lord we actually get fruit we get rewards on our account
this is why you know the Bible tells us that we should give to others and give
to Christians especially those who are doing the work of God you know in fact I
was just talking my wife this week you know we want to start supporting some
missionaries as a church you know obviously we got our own mission work
going on but you know what I want to start looking for some missionaries
doing some work because I want to communicate to their service you know so
we can get fruit abounding to our account amen and I'm sure there's
missionaries out there that are doing well and they don't need it but you know
what we want to give to them because we want to have fruit that abounds to our
account and I'm sure it'll be a blessing to them and you know obviously it's not
gonna be hard to look for missionaries because missionaries nowadays they kind
of suck okay but you know there's some missionaries out there that actually do
good and and they're out there soul winning they're out there preaching the
gospel and I'm not just referring to missionaries that are in the new IFP
there's even old IFP missionaries quite a bit of them who actually do the work
of God they're soul winning they're not afraid of using that term soul winning
they show the souls that they've won I think that's great okay and so you know
we want to do that the way the Philippians did to the Apostle Paul he
says in verse 18 but I have all and abound I am full having received of
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you an odor of a sweet smell
sacrifice acceptable while pleasing to God but listen to this my God shall
supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus now
here's a good way to interpret that you can never outgive God never do it so I
want to be a blessing to someone in our church okay but just remember this you
will never be able to outgive God whatever amount that you give to that
person however much of a blessing you are to them God will double that to your
account whether immediately or even thereafter and I'm known of many stories
I've seen it personally in my life I've seen it with my wife where you know we
were a blessing to someone and it's just like we got that immediately returned
double triple sometimes okay and it's just a way of like increasing our faith
that we can never just outgive God and it's God just showing us like when you
give when you lend to someone you're actually lending unto who the Lord okay
and God is not a delinquent you will pay back and many times over too okay
he shall supply all your needs I've not seen the righteous forsaken nor seed
begging bread now unto now unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever
amen salute every saying in Christ Jesus the brethren which are with me greet you
all the Saints salute you chiefly they that are of Caesars household the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all a men so it's pretty interesting in
verse 22 you know he's saying like everyone's saluting you here chiefly
they that are of Caesars household that means he's winning people to Christ in
Rome he's like by the way those in Rome say hi who's those of Caesars household
you know we don't know if he's referring to like maybe the people who are working
there or family but apparently he was preaching the gospel to some people
there and they're just like hey tell them those people in Philippi we said
hi I mean that's pretty encouraging to those at Philippi and I'm sure there's
a Philippi are thinking you know what I'm glad I invested resources to this
man's work because look at the great work that he's doing okay and so that is
it what a great book here at the book of Philippians and the great takeaway that
we can get from the book of Philippians is how important the gospel is how
important it is for us to have unity in the church how important it is for us to
know how to commune with God to pray right beware of false prophets as well
as we saw in chapter 3 and also to communicate to depart to to to transmit
resources to those who are doing the work of God all right so let's pray and
then brother John's gonna come up and sing a song after he's done I'll come up
and then we're gonna break into groups and we're gonna we're gonna pray
together about 10 to 15 minutes don't worry if you go and pray for five
minutes that's fine don't don't think like you know man who's watching me like
it's like I'm already done praying but there's still more people praying like
and then you just kind of like get up and you start like moving away and you
pray as long as you want okay and so let's pray and then John will come up
let's pray father we thank you so much for your word we're so thankful for the
book of Philippians what a great book and great reminders here help us to be a
people who pray who depend on you Lord and who pour our hearts unto you of how
we really feel inside Lord and the needs that we have done I pray that you
would help us as your people as we gather together tonight to pray you
would bless our effort to come to you Lord and we're coming to you in faith
please show yourself strong on our behalf and increase our faith in you we
love you we thank you pray these things in Jesus name amen
please turn your songbooks to song number 175 song number 175 it's just
like his great love song number 175 all together nice and strong on that first
verse a friend I have called Jesus whose love is strong and true and never fails
our tears tried no matter what I do I've sinned against this love of his but when
I now to confessing all my guilt to him the sin clouds rolled away it's just
like Jesus to roll the clouds away it's just like Jesus to keep me day by day
it's just like Jesus all along the way it's just like his great love sometimes
the clouds of trouble be dim the sky above I cannot see my Savior's face I
doubt his wondrous love but he from heaven's mercy see my despair
in pity first the clouds between and shows me he is there it's just like
Jesus roll the clouds away it's just like Jesus to keep me day by day it's
just like Jesus all along the way it's just like his great love when sorrows
clouds or take me and break upon my head when life seems worse than useless and I
were better dead I take my grief to Jesus then in vain for heavily hope he
gives that cheers like sunshine after rain it's just like Jesus roll the
clouds away it's just like Jesus to keep me day by day it's just like Jesus all
along the way it's just like his great love oh I could sing forever love divine
of all his care and tenderness for this for life of mine his love is in an overall waves
obey when Jesus whispers peace be still and rolls the clouds away it's just like Jesus
roll the clouds away to keep me day by day it's just like Jesus all along the way it's
just like his great love
amen wonderful singing we have a baptism we'll sing another song turn to song number 41
song number 41 sweet by and by
song number 41 all together on that first verse there's a land that is fairer than day
and by faith we can see in afar over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there
in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by
we shall meet on that beautiful shore
all right we have a baptist i get to baptize my mom tonight all right uh mom
thank you
all right let's pray and then we'll be dismissed into groups all right so go ahead you get with
your family or pick someone in the church and help those who have social anxiety please
you know don't let them come to you you go to them all right if you know they're a little shy
let's pray father we thank you so much for your word we're so thankful for
the book of philippians lord and everything that we've learned i pray father god that you bless our
prayer meeting tonight and thank you for allowing me to baptize my mother i'm so thankful that she
got saved and may you bless us as we continue the work of the lord here at first works baptist
church in jesus name we pray amen