 Alright, welcome back. So before the break, we looked at the first seven verses of the Philippian letter. So we just got started and we see that Paul says in these first few verses that he thanks God every time he remembers this particular church. He says in verse 3, I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. So he says, your one church which partnered along with me right from day one. Right from that first day when Lydia invited the missionaries to her home and she said, I'm opening up my home for you all, please come over here and be over here with us. So right from that first day, this church began to partner in the gospel with Paul. And so he says that he's confident that God who began a good work in them will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. So when he writes to some of the churches, he is upset. He is angry because they have gone after wrong teachings. In some letters, we see that he is sad because they have not caught the truths which he had wanted to convey. But here when we look at this letter, he's full of joy even as he's writing it. He is so happy for the progress which he has seen in the lives of these believers. And so he says, you guys have partnered with me from the first day until now. And because of that, he says, I pray with joy for you, he says. And then he goes on to say in verse 7, Since I have you in my heart and whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. So he says that they have been partnering in the gospel with him and he also says that they are sharing in God's grace with him. When we were doing Ephesians, we looked at how there are four different forms of grace mentioned in the New Testament. So over here when he's talking about how the Philippian believers are sharing in God's grace along with Paul, he's talking about the grace gifts. That's basically what he's referring to over here in verse 7. So the Philippian church caught the vision that they are not just going to be a bunch of, that believers are not meant to be just be a bunch of spectators who just watch the show even as the leaders are leading. They caught the vision that God wanted every living stone in the building that God is building up for himself, the church which he's building up for himself, every living stone has a role to play. Every living stone in this building that God is building, this living church which God is building, every living stone has a responsibility to fulfill. Every single believer is expected to minister in some way or the other which is why that many spiritual gifts have been released. So it's not just the five-fold ministry gifts which were released. You have the ministry gifts which are given to every single believer to perform some kind of role for the kingdom of God. So whether the person has been called into full-time ministry or not, every single believer has a ministry role. And plus apart from that you also have the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit which are just for the benefit of the believer to be used for his own personal growth. As well as for the benefit of the other believers around him. So this many spiritual gifts have been released so that every believer can be an active participant in the gospel. And the Philippine church clearly understood this. So when they understood that God's grace, that they are sharing in God's grace along with Paul, that they are sharing in the grace gifts along with Paul, they become ready to use their giftings to partner in the gospel. So it's not just Paul and the leaders who did ministry in Philippi. The Philippian believers also became fully actively involved in ministry work and did their best to reach out to their city and maybe even to the other communities around outside the borders of their city. So we see this about this particular church. And the question we need to ask ourselves is, are we building up our churches in the same manner, helping them to catch the vision which the Philippian church did. Because today in most of our churches, most of the congregation is not even aware that they have been called to ministry. They think that their duty is to go and sit in the chair in the church on Sunday morning, participate in the worship and then go home. They think that is their one and only duty to the Lord. They are not even aware that they have ministry roles to play in the church. They are not even aware that there is an entire set of ministry gifts which has been released for each believer. So the leadership will have to create that awareness in the congregation that they are not meant to just be spectators. They are meant to actively participate in the gospel. The reason that the Philippian church could reach out to so many people to reach out to their entire city is because everyone in the congregation did their role, played their part. But today in our modern churches, we don't see the congregation contributing to the ministry work of the kingdom in any way. They are not even aware that they are supposed to contribute. They are not even aware that God has equipped them with ministry gifts which they can use to reach out to people. So it becomes the responsibility of those of us who are in leadership to create this awareness in whichever church we attend. To create an awareness over there that nobody, no believer is meant to be, has been appointed by God to just sit there as a spectator. We are all supposed to actively participate. And like we had seen when we were covering the Book of Ephesians, the letter to the Ephesians, when we were covering that, we looked at how it's the responsibility of the five-fold ministry leaders to train the other believers to be able to move in their particular giftings. So if an apostle sees a church member carrying that same gifting, that church member will continue to work in the secular office where he works. He'll continue to perform the secular duties which he has been called to perform by God. But he's going to use that apostolic gifting which he has in his heart, maybe to start a small prayer group in his office. Maybe he will use that apostolic gifting which he has inside him to start a small Bible study in his colony. So you see the average church believer, he also has a role to play and the five-fold ministry leaders will equip these believers depending on their specialization. So a person who's a full-time teacher, he may not be able to train someone in a postorship because he himself does not have that gifting but then he is a teacher. So when he recognizes that gifting of teaching in his church members, he goes to them, he encourages them and he tells them, see, I can see this gifting in you. You have been given this ability by God to explain scriptures so clearly. How are you using this gifting? How can you use it? How can you use it in your own family circles? How can you use it in your neighborhood? And so the full-time ministry person who's gifted maybe in this particular area of teaching will try to identify people in his congregation who have the ministry gift of teaching. So he would go to them and encourage them to get involved in kingdom work and use their specific gifting to advance the kingdom. So if the five-fold ministers can specifically watch out for people who seem to have the same gifting that they have, they of course have the official full-time gifting. But if they recognize that same gifting in the form of a ministry gifting in the congregation members, then they need to encourage that the congregation members also actively start using that particular gifting. So a full-time evangelist, when he sees someone who seems to get very good results whenever he goes and shares the gospel, the full-time evangelist recognizes that this particular believer in his church seems to be moving in this gifting because when he shares, people tend to actually get saved. They get on on their knees, they confess their sins and they become part of the living church. So when the full-time evangelist recognizes this gifting in one of his congregation, he's supposed to go to them and tell them, you know, brother, I can see this gifting in you so clearly. Are you willing to learn how to move in this gifting more and more? I can train you. I have experience. I can show you how to do it. I can give you tips, you know, practical tips on how you can approach people, talk to them. I can develop you in this area. Are you willing to give yourself to the Lord and, you know, use this ministry gifting? Now, you're not telling that person to come into full-time ministry because that is not the calling that they have been given. But they have a ministry gifting in their hands which they are meant to use. The Philippine church was partnering and using its grace giftings to contribute to the kingdom work. But many of our modern churches are not doing that. So just like Paul and his companions developed these Philippine believers to fully become active in ministry, we too have to encourage our people in our congregations to become active in ministry because we saw last time when we were doing Ephesians. Every believer is given ministry giftings. It may be hospitality. It may be the gifting of helps. It may be the gifting of prophecy. Whatever it is, we in the leadership must encourage the congregation to use their ministry giftings because then we can reach a large city. Just a small bunch of church leaders cannot cover the city on their own. We need the entire congregation to get involved in the kingdom work. Only then will the gospel spread and only then will people be added to the church. So these are things that we need to keep in mind. These are responsibilities that have been given to the five-fold ministry leaders and they need to actively fulfill those responsibilities towards the congregation. Moving on to a few other things. If we could have someone read out for us, Philippians chapter 1 verses 12 to 18. There is a very nice thought which Paul presents over here in this passage. So if we can have someone read out for us, Philippians chapter 1 verses 12 to 18. Philippians 1, 12 to 18 please. But I say, I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the fatherings of the gospel. So that it has become evident to the whole Paulist God and to the rest that my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the Lord have become confident by my chains are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife and some also from good will. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains. But the later out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel, watch them only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. Amen. Amen. So Paul literally shows his heart over here in these verses. We get to know what kind of a person he is, what drives him, what motivates him, what the deepest desire of his heart is. He doesn't really care how the gospel is advanced. Even if people are trying to work against him and in the process of working against him if they are spreading the gospel, that's also fine by him. As long as the gospel gets spread. That is his passion. So he says, you Philippian believers probably are feeling bad that I am over here in Rome in chains. Because if you remember, we talked about this when we were doing the background to Ephesians. We talked about how Paul gets arrested and sent to Rome and during that time he writes this letter to the Philippians. So he sends this letter from Rome to the Philippian church. So he says over here, you people probably are feeling sad that I am over here imprisoned under arrest. But you know what? This has actually worked to further the gospel. This has led to the advancement of the gospel because I am sitting over here in chains. Everyone is talking about it. They are talking about how the details are not given here of course. But then we can understand what exactly has happened because here is a man who has been placed under arrest and is now spending more than a year in imprisonment. Not because he has done any crime of any kind. The reason he is under arrest is because he preached about somebody named Jesus Christ. So obviously everyone is curious. In the palace everyone wants to know who is this man who is willingly staying under arrest. Not for having done any crime but simply because he talked about somebody named Jesus. And because he talked about this Jesus, it created a lot of furor among the Jewish people. So who is this Jesus? Why are the Jews so angry and upset about it? Why did they get him arrested? And why is this man so happy to be arrested and staying over here in imprisonment? Their curiosity is aroused. And so what has happened to Paul has actually worked to advance the gospel. And so he is happy to be imprisoned. Most of us would not be very thrilled if we were thrown into jail. Yes, jail can be an excellent place to share the gospel. But still we are rather reluctant to end up in jail. But Paul, he doesn't mind being imprisoned. And he in fact rejoices that his imprisonment has led to the furtherance of the gospel. And he goes on to say, there are some people who are preaching, not because they really love the Lord or love the gospel. They are preaching out of envy and rivalry. They want to compete with Paul and show how superior their teaching style is. How much better their communication skills are than this Paul. So they are not actually preaching to spread the gospel. They are preaching just to show off how superior they are to Paul. But Paul doesn't mind. He says, no problem. The gospel is getting advanced and that is what matters. So he says there are some people who are preaching with all the wrong motives. And of course there are others who are preaching out of goodwill. He is glad for both types of people. And he says in verse 17, the former preach Christ out of selfish ambition. Not sincerely. Supposing that they can stir up trouble for me. So these are preachers who are preaching out of selfish ambition. They kind of want to pull people away from being followers of Paul. They want them to become followers of their own little ministry setups. So they want to create trouble for Paul by discrediting his teaching style. By discrediting the things that he is sharing. And they want to build up their own ministries. So they are preaching out of selfish ambition. But he says in verse 18, in the NIV it says, what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice, he says. It just shows how much passion there was in this man's heart for the gospel, for people to be added to the kingdom, for lives to be saved. That is his deep passion. Why? What drove him to preach the gospel with so much zeal? He explains that in Romans. And I think it's good for us to actually look at that. If we could have someone go to Romans chapter 1 and read out for us verses 14 and 15. Romans 1, 14 to 15. We kind of get an idea of why he is so driven about sharing the gospel. Romans 1, 14 to 15 please. I am a data both to Greeks and to the barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. Amen. Yeah, now this is the letter to the Romans. So at that time he says, I am a data to the Greeks. I am a data to the Gentiles. I mean the word barbarians is used over here because that's the way the Greeks looked upon all the other communities. They consider themselves very civilized and superior. And so they used this label of barbarians, you know, uneducated, uncivilized. That's the label which they used for all the other communities. But just that basically is talking about the Gentiles. And Gentiles are not barbarians. That's just the what corrupted Greek perspective of the world. So that's basically how they used to look upon the Gentiles. And so he are here when you know Paul is talking to the people in Rome. He says, I am a data to the Gentiles. I'm a data to the Greeks. And that is why I am ready to preach the gospel to everyone, including to you people in Rome. The thing which drove him to share the gospel with such passion was the fact that he looked upon himself as a data. Why? In what way was he a data? In what way did he owe these people? You know, in what way is he in debt to them? You see, it all goes back to his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Because at that time Jesus says to him, you know, that would be in your Acts 26 verses 15 to 18. He says to the Lord, who are you Lord? And then the Lord speaks to him and the Lord says, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. And then the Lord says, get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness. And the Lord goes on to say to him in verse 17 Acts 26 verse 17, the Lord says, you know, I'm going to send you out to the Gentiles to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. So God says to him, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. And then in the very next sentence, this Jesus who is getting persecuted by Paul, he says to him, you know what, I'm going to use you. I'm going to give you a very high status and position and role. You're the person that I'm going to use to initiate this ministry among the Gentile communities of the entire Asia Minor. So Paul feels deeply indebted to the Lord for this role that was given to him. A man who was persecuting the church, God takes such a person and makes him a blessing to the church. So Paul always values, you know, what Jesus did for him. He was at such a low level, God took someone like that and instead of, you know, spitting on him or, you know, beating him or judging him, God forgave him and turned him into such an amazing apostle. So Paul always had a deep sense of gratitude for this. He felt indebted to the Lord and not just that. He says he feels indebted to the Greeks and indebted to the barbarians. He feels that he owes them this duty to share the gospel, to do something for them. Why? Because that is the commission that God gave him. Now, how do you and I feel about the roles and functions that God has given to us? Again, like I said, you know, it doesn't matter whether I'm in full-time ministry or whether I'm, you know, working in the secular field. As a believer, what are the roles and functions that God has given me and how much do I value them? You know, there was this one particular point in my ministry when I was not happy with what God had given me. I liked the ministry that God had given me before that. You know, it was like challenging, adventurous. I felt very enthusiastic about doing it. There was a lot of good feedback, all of that. And then I got into this phase where God gave me this ministry where there was not much happening. I mean, no publicity, no feedback. I'm just quietly doing my work day after day. And I don't know whether it's really impacting anyone, whether it's helping anyone, very silent phase. And so at that time, God said to me, yes, it's good that you enjoyed what I gave you earlier. Yes, it's good that you gave your very best in that. But do you appreciate what I have put in your hands now? Just because the applause is missing, just because the public feedback is missing, are you now unhappy with what I have given you? So are you serving me for the sake of fame and popularity or are you serving me because you really want to serve me and see people coming into the kingdom? I mean, that really pierced my heart and I thought, oh, in different phases of life, whatever role, whatever function the Lord gives, I need to feel indebted to the Lord that He put something so valuable into my hands. I mean, I'm just a human and He is willing to partner with me in this ministry work of bringing unsaved people into the kingdom. I should value that. So like Paul, we need to have a deep appreciation of what has been given to us, whatever ministry role it is. Even if it is something as small as running a Bible study, are we doing it with all our hearts, appreciating, valuing what God has put in our hands? Do we feel indebted to the Lord to go and give our very best? If that is our attitude, then the Lord will be able to really bless what we are doing and bring much fruit out of it. So whatever we are doing, it will have eternal results because we are doing it with a true heart. Now coming to verses, so now we are looking at Philippians chapter 1. If we could have someone read out for us verses 27 to 30, yeah. Philippians 1, 27 to 30 please. Yeah, anyone who's in the class, attending the class, if you could unmute and read out for us Philippians chapter 1 verses 27 to 30. Philippians chapter 1 verses 27 to 30. Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come off and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. And not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. Having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here is in me. Amen. Amen. So here he says, you all have a role to play in this gospel of Christ. So you need to conduct yourselves in a manner that is worthy of this gospel. Are you conducting yourselves in a manner which is worthy? Are you striving together? So he says do not be frightened away by the opposition which may come against you because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. Because most believers think that all that has been given to them is the privilege of believing in him. No, there's one more privilege which has been given to them and that is the privilege of suffering for him. You know, a lot of us want the first, we do not want the second. But in Philippians chapter one verse 29, it is very clearly told that we are granted two things on behalf of Christ. One, to believe in him and two, to also suffer for him. So we have to conduct ourselves in a manner that is worthy of this gospel and be willing even to suffer for him. So moving into chapter two, he talks about how we are supposed to conduct ourselves in a worthy manner. What kind of a sacrificial life are we supposed to live? With what attitude are we supposed to minister? So those are the details that he gets into. So in chapter two, in verse three, he says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Because he was talking in the previous chapter about those people who are doing ministry work with all the wrong motives and intentions. So he says, don't be like that. He says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. So he says, you Philippian believers need to have the same mindset which Jesus had. And then he goes on to explain what kind of a mindset Jesus had. So verse six onwards, he talks about that. He says, this was the kind of mindset which Jesus had. Verse six, it says that Jesus did not consider equality with God, something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. So in NKJV it says, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. That's a rather unclear translation. So NIV brings it out better, where it explains to us what that Greek root word, what it means. Jesus understood fully his status. He fully understood that he is equal with God. But having understood that, he didn't grab on to it, hold on to it, desperately cling on to it. No, he did not consider it something to be used for his own advantage. Rather, it says in verse seven, he made himself nothing. He lays aside this privilege, this special status which is rightfully his. He lays it aside and makes himself nothing so that he can take on the nature of a servant. So the thing about us believers, we are very conscious of our rights and privileges. So if another believer encroaches upon our rights, we immediately spring up and we say, oh no, it's my right to have this. Who are you to come and obstruct me in this manner? So if somebody speaks to us harshly, say, it's my right to be treated with respect and dignity. What right do you have to talk to me like that? So, you know, we are so conscious of our rights, of our privileges. But Jesus, who had the highest rights and the highest privileges, what did he do with his rights and privileges? He did not consider it harpezo, something to be held on to, something to be grasped. No, rather, he lays it aside and he chooses to become a servant so that he can serve. And how does he serve? Verse eight, it says, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death. So this is not like, you know, just serving at the table, serving by, you know, washing people's feet. It is service to the extent of death. It's service of that selfless nature. It's that kind of a service, you know, and it says in verse eight, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death. Even death on a cross. When we were looking at Galatians, we talked about how the cross was something very demeaning in those days. That word staros cross was not even used by polite people. Polite people did not talk about crucifixion and things like that because, you know, it involved humiliation. It involved being stripped of your clothes and being hung naked. It involved, you know, torture and abuse and all of that. So it is something so demeaning. This Jesus, fully understanding who he is that he's equal with God, sets aside all of those privileges, all of that status to become a servant and what kind of a servant? A servant who humbles himself to serve to the point of death. And that was such a humiliating form of death, a death on a cross. And we are told to have that mindset in our Christian walk. It's a very high demand that is being placed upon us. It's not something that we will ever be able to do in our own strength. It's something that we can do only through the power of the Holy Spirit. And so even as that desire rises in our heart to be like that, to be like Jesus. No, we should cry out and say, Lord, I really have this desire to be like that. I don't want to be selfish me. I want to be beautiful like Jesus. But Lord, I'm unable to do this on my own. Please enable me. Please help me daily. Remind me of this goal which I have set for myself. And when I go astray, correct me Lord, remind me of the stand that I have taken that I'm going to have the mindset of Christ and not the mindset of the world. So Lord, you help me. You enable me. And so when we eagerly reach out to him and ask him every day again and again with that hunger, he will begin to change us. So this is not something which will just fall into our laps. It's a conscious choice that we make that we will start changing and we ask the Holy Spirit to help us make these changes. And then because we are committed to this, he will start enabling us to become what he wants us to be. So maybe we can talk a little bit about this aspect of having the same mindset as Christ. If you were to go to Philippians chapter 4, from Philippians chapter 4, we will look at just a few verses because in those verses it talks about having the same mind as the Lord Jesus. So we are not jumping from here into Philippians chapter 4. We will save that for next class. But we will just look at these few verses, Philippians chapter 4 verses 2 and 3, which talk about some believers who should have the same mind in the Lord. They are meant to have the same kind of mindset which Jesus has. So let's go to Philippians chapter 4 just to look at these few verses. So here in his letter Paul is saying, I plead with Iodia and I plead with Sinktish. I mean what names to give to your daughters, right? So he says, I'm pleading with these two ladies to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel. These are not just two average church members. These are two ladies who have fought along with Paul for the gospel. They are committed leaders of the church. And now for some reason there's some difference between them. They seem to be in disagreement and disunity regarding some matter. And so here Paul says, please talk to them, counsel them, so that they will be of the same mind in the Lord. So they need to have the same mindset that the Lord has and they need to come together in unity. What was Jesus' mindset? We saw that in Philippians 2 where it says that he didn't consider his own interests but he looked to the interests of the others. So these two ladies, rather than thinking about their own opinion and their own point of view, they are being asked to place others' interests before their own. So how does this work out in real life? I may know in an actual church setting. You will have situations where church leaders will disagree with each other about decisions regarding the running of the church. One leader may say, let's do it this way because then the church will really be benefited and we will be able to reach many people for the gospel. And then the other leader says, no, I think this is a better method. What I am saying is a better method. Please let's implement this so that the church will be benefited. Both of them want to benefit the church but they are in disagreement on how to go about it. How would you resolve an issue like that? Each of them is supposed to place the interests of the other before them rather than think of their own interests. So does that mean that each of them just caves into the other person? It actually is talking about placing the interests of the church before their own, a church as in all the believers, the entire community of believers. So both of them maybe can have a discussion along with all the other leadership and then try to determine which would be more beneficial in the interests of the entire congregation. Even after having such a discussion, if they are still at a deadlock and if it is leading to a lot of talk and it's leading to a lot of strife in the church then maybe it's time for one of them to just back off because sometimes these discussions get heated. You will have about 20 church members saying, I think what this person is saying is correct and we should follow this. And then you would have another 20 church members siding with the other leader and saying, no, no, no, what this person is saying is really better. We should do it this way. Now what's happening? It started off as a discussion in the leadership but now the congregation is getting involved. There's disunity happening in the church. So the leadership has to think about not their interests but the interests of the church, the entire congregation, all the people, the flock that they are responsible for. So in case any disagreement becomes heated and starts spreading to an extent where it's affecting the congregation then one of the leaders should just back off for the benefit of the church, to preserve the unity of the church, to not give Satan a chance to meddle in that beautiful church and mess it up. So for the sake of the church, one of the leadership, one of the leaders who's tied into this argument would choose to just back off. He would make that sacrifice for the sake of preserving the unity. So here these two ladies are being requested by Paul to have the same mind in the Lord, to have his same mindset and also to be united in their decision that they're going to place the church's interests before their own. You know, maybe both of them are right in what they are saying. Maybe both of their opinions have their pros and cons. But the benefit of the church becomes important. You know, if you in Philippians chapter 2, this is what we see in the first four verses. Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 to 4, Paul says, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, he goes on to say, if that is the case, you know, if you have received any comfort from his love, then he says, be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. It's what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2, the first few verses. So he's saying to the believers over there, you know, if you guys have received comfort from the love of Christ, then he says, be like-minded, having that same love, even in your own hearts. And how would you express this love of Christ by being united in your spirit, by being united in your mind? So now whatever is being taught over here in Philippians chapter 2 applies to the ladies in Philippians chapter 4. So he's kind of drawing upon what he said earlier in Philippians chapter 2 when he says to these ladies, asks them to be of the same mind in the Lord. He's kind of, you know, pointing back to what he had earlier shared in Philippians chapter 2. So that's the reason why we, you know, kind of touched upon these verses, even though we are actually dealing with Philippians chapter 2. So when it comes to disputes, when it comes to any arguments and disagreements, the main importance should be given to the interests of the entire congregation. What will benefit them most? What will cause the church to grow? And we should be willing to sacrifice our opinion, even if it means losing the argument. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the church gets built up. Which is why Paul, you know, he says in Philippians chapter 2 beginning, he says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, he says. So we need to remember that in our Christian walk, we must always have the mindset of Christ who fully understanding his high status chooses to set it aside so that he can serve. So we too should be people who are willing to serve. And so then Paul goes on to say in verse 12, he says, therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, he says. So we have about three minutes. So let's cover this. And the rest of it, of course, we'll continue it in the next class. So he says, he asks these believers to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Wrong doctrines have come out of this statement because people have misunderstood what Paul has said over here. They say, oh, we are supposed to work out our salvation. Does that mean that we have to add good works to our belief in Christ? Only then will we be saved? And that too, it says over here, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. So does it mean that if I am not attaching enough good works to my faith in Christ, then there's a chance that I may lose my salvation? So with fear and trembling, should I add a lot of good works to my faith in Christ so that at least that will get me into heaven? So these are all the wrong kind of thoughts and doubts which come into people's minds when they read this particular portion. But over here, he's talking about working out our salvation in a completely different sense. And when he uses the phrase fear and trembling, he means something very specific, which has got nothing to do about losing our salvation, about having the fear of losing our salvation. So all of these interesting details, we shall look at in our next class when we meet. So we have kind of stopped today at verse 11. So verse 12 onwards, we will continue in our next class. So let's just close with the word of prayer. Lord, we thank you for the truths that we could learn from your word today. We pray, O Lord, that whenever we require these truths, we would use them as a sword of the Spirit to demolish the arguments which Satan raises, which he uses to try and tempt us away from you, O Lord. Lord, we pray that like the Philippian church, each of us who are just members in the church would take our ministry responsibility seriously. That we would not regard ourselves as spectators, but to look at ourselves as people who are supposed to be active participants in the sharing of the gospel. We pray, O Lord, that we would live in that way purposefully, proactively, rather than being passive. Help us, O Lord, to live in a way that pleases you and honors you. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. We will be continuing the Philippian letter next class.