Ishmael LaBiosa: Welcome to 40 Days Through the New Testament. This podcast is led by Pastor Rusty Small at Liberty Baptist Church in Appomattox, Virginia. Listen as he guides you through all 27 books of the New Testament in preparation for Easter. Get your Bible ready. Here's today's message. Well, Philippians is one of those books that a lot of people have read. It feels a little more accessible to some people than some of the other books. And so just want to hit a few highlights on the letter to Philippians to make sure that you get some of the key themes. There's only four chapters in Philippians, and so that makes it little easier to read. And I would encourage you to just read all these books in one setting because you want to get the whole message of the book rather than bits and pieces. Several themes that appear in Philippians. One is the theme of joy, but not just the theme of joy, the theme of joy in suffering. Philippians, along with Ephesians and Colossians and Philemon, so those four books, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon are called the prison epistles and the reason they're called the prison epistles is because they were written while Paul was in prison in Rome. And Paul is suffering, no doubt, in prison and one of the themes that bubbles up is the theme of joy. but it's a joy that is in the context of suffering. I do want to note that Paul is joyful in the context of suffering. Listen carefully, because he's on the mission. You know, you can suffer and not be joyful, but Paul notes that his suffering might actually advance the gospel. I came up with this turn of phrase that Paul's joy is not situational. Paul is not joyful because of a situation. Paul is joyful because of his participation. We've been talking about this idea of union with Christ, that Christ died for you and you have died in him. And Paul takes that a bit further. Not only have we died in Christ, we've raised with Christ, yes, but when we go on mission, when we go on mission in Christ's name, we participate with him in his mission. And that's clearly the case because Jesus says we're for I am with you, the end of the Gospel of Matthew, even to the ends of the age. And so Paul has a real sense that he is joyful even in his suffering because his suffering is because of Christ and he's suffering but he's real confident that he's on the mission. And he'll be able to say things like in Philippians 1, for me to live as Christ, to die as gain. His whole life is bent toward others, is bent towards Gospel proclamation, is bent towards finishing the mission and as long as he lives it's for Christ and when he dies it is gained. This is all part of things and it takes a while for a person to get to that level of maturity to want to be that selfless. You say, well how did Paul get that selfless? Well he noticed the example of Jesus and Paul will say in Philippians 2, adopt this same attitude. as that which in Christ Jesus, I read it for you, who existing in the form of God did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross. For this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name. so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Paul says you wanna know how I had joy and suffering? How I can give myself to the point of death if necessary because of the example, the example of Jesus. Paul says the way up is down and he knows that because he's seen who Jesus is. Think about the humiliation of Jesus with me for a moment. Jesus is God. Oftentimes in life when we have privileges, we take those privileges and we leverage those privileges. We leverage the privileges up so that we can get more privileges. And then we get more privileges and we leverage them up so we can get more privileges. If God doesn't leverage up, God leverages down. Jesus, who existing in the form of God, listen carefully, did not consider equality with God something to be used for his own advantage. If you want to the heart of God, he is a self-giving God. and a self-giving God that's almost indescribable. Existing in the form of God did not consider the quality of God something to be used to his own advantage. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had become as a man, he humbled himself again by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. I want you to notice a few phrases. He humbled himself, he humbled himself. The self-humiliation of Jesus. And it was because of this self-humiliation, it says then, but God gave him a name that is above every name. You say, where does Paul get this idea that the way up is down, that the way of greatness is the way of self-humiliation? Jesus. And that example should be the example that we follow. And Paul says, if you don't understand that, you don't really understand the heartbeat of Christianity. Paul will continue to say, he says that I want to know Christ. And he says, for everything I read chapter 3 verse 7, just think about this, the same, Paul's following Jesus. Look how many privileges Paul had, Pharisee of Pharisee, a famous teacher, Gamaliel taught him, and he took all those privileges and gave them all away. It says, everything that was gained to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss. in view of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung so that I might gain Christ and to be found in him not having a righteousness of my own from the law but one that is through faith in Christ the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection. And guess what Paul is doing right now on the mission. and the fellowship of his suffering being conformed to his death. If you can notice this, as theologians say, Paul's life is cruciform. His ministry, his life, his biography, it looks like Jesus. And Paul says, look, this isn't just for me. What about you, Church, Philippians? He then calls out two ladies, Philippians 4-2. He says, I urge you to... and I urge you, Senteke, to agree in the Lord. Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, and I will say it again, rejoice. Paul feels as though the example of the self-humiliation of Jesus It's not just some theological idea that's pie in the sky. He will actually call people to a self-giving, self-sacrificial life in conformity to Jesus, that we will know Christ in a deeper way through participation on the mission with Him, and that if those in the church would think deeply about who Christ is, about the shape of His life, it would cause a great deal more unity. in the body of Jesus. Lastly, Paul is going to thank the Philippians for the gift that he sent them, but will express that he has learned contentment. That he can be good with a lot, good with a little. Why? Because whatever he has, he's learned to be content. The book of Philippians is so full of good verses that it's one of my joys reading it. But notice Philippians 4. and my God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. What is the major concept of the letter to the Philippians? The self-giving God, the self-giving Jesus should set the tone for our life, our witness, our mission, and that even if following Jesus requires difficulty and suffering, that we have joy and suffering. because on the mission, through hardship or difficulty, through having a lot or a little, we get to know Jesus in a real and personal way. Thank you for listening to this podcast, A Ministry of Liberty Baptist Church. We pray that this is an encouragement to study God's Word and that you will join us for the next episode.