 I love this theme. I love the fact that it is whatever and it's not the kind of whatever it's like hey whatever it is with a purposeful whatever. Paul wants us to really think about the things that we think on and what we say, where our heart is, where we're going, where we're living, who we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. So I pray that this morning will be just a morning of encouragement, of exhortation, of love, just as this letter when Paul first penned it was intended to be. So let's bow our hearts together as we seek the Lord for his blessings this morning. Heavenly Father we just ask this morning that you will shower us with your blessings. If as we spend this time together in your Word I pray Father that you would encourage us, that you would speak your truth into our heart Lord and that we will leave here just more knowing who we are in you. Father in what we can do to stand firm and to stand fast until you come back for your church. We love you Father we praise you be glorified this morning in Jesus's name. Amen. Well this letter is from Paul and it's to believers who were in Philippi. It is known as the epistle of joy. It's a letter that is filled with encouragement, exhortation and love from the Apostle Paul to the believers in Philippians in Philippi. It's a thank you note to the believers for their help in Paul's hour of need. He also provides instructions on Christian unity and how to continue to live and to walk in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to also remember that Paul is writing this epistle as he is under house arrest in Rome. He had not seen the Philippians for years and he loved them and missed them dearly and somehow they heard that Paul was in need so they sent their friend to go and minister to Paul but their friend was sick so Paul sent them back sent him back early but with this epistle filled with encouragement and love for the Philippian church. In this final chapter of Philippians chapter 4 the Apostle Paul closes with an appeal for all believers to stand fast to stand firm in the Lord, to be steadfast, to continue strong in the Lord Jesus Christ, to be united in heart and in purpose. And I think that this exhortation is just as important for us today as it was for in Paul's time or when he read it the first time. So will you turn to chapter 4 and we're gonna read the first seven verses of Philippians. Therefore my beloved and longed for a brethren my joy and crown so stand fast in the Lord beloved I implore Eurodia and I implore Sintakee to be of the same mind in the Lord and I urge you also true companion help these women who labored with me in the gospel with Clement and also the rest of my fellow workers whose names are written in the book of life rejoice in the Lord always again I will say it rejoice let your gentleness be known to all men for the Lord as it hand be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. So because of the truth that Paul had been writing about up to the third chapters he now goes on to say because what Jesus has done for us because of who he is because of his life and his death and his resurrection because he has given us victory over sin and death therefore since we have this glorious hope this great truth in the Lord Jesus Christ he says stand firm in the faith stand firm in the Lord he had already told them earlier in chapter 1 verse 27 he says this let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or I am absent that I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel so basically he has been encouraging you guys stay united be united don't let anything rip you apart from the faith that Jesus Christ has given to you in closing this letter he wants to remind them again about the importance of staying strong in the Lord and we need to be reminded of that as well today they are in the midst of the enemies of the cross as Philippians 3 18 states they would be influenced in the ways that would undermine their Christian stability there was a real danger that they would be drawn away and enticed so they had to make a personal resolution in their hearts to be steadfast to stand firm they needed to stand firm in the truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to be steadfast is to be fixed in a direction to be firm in purpose unwavering firmly established and Paul is basically saying never ever give up your Christian walk because that is your life don't cave in to the pressures that are going to be upon you and that are already upon you and again i believe that word is for us this morning too the reality today the church seems to have fallen asleep we have become lethargic and it seems that many are leaving their Christian faith for other things that seemingly satisfy for just a moment too many Christians are not seeking the truth they're tired of church tired of church people that means you and me they are tired of serving they're tired of walking with the Lord they're tired of obeying the Lord they are filled with excuses for reasons why they have left Jesus behind and Paul desperately doesn't want this to happen to the Philippian church and i know our pastors your pastor my pastor my husband he does not want us wavering in our faith and getting sucked up in the ways of this world there seems to be a willingness to leave the truth whenever truth isn't convenient for us if we aren't centering our lives on the truth of the gospel the truth of the word of god we are going to find ourselves on a very slippery slope of destruction we will find ourselves buying into the world's philosophies adopting their priorities and living a life filled with compromise and not living a life filled with loving Jesus Christ John MacArthur says if Christians are to live and keeping with who they are as children of God they must live according to the word of God through the power of his holy spirit in other words believers are always to keep their feet firmly planted in the revealed truth of the gospels paul loved the philippians he loved them so desperately that's why he says in verse one brothers and sisters you who i love and i long for you're my joy and my crown please i'm begging you stand firm stand firm and this is how you're going to stand firm dear friends i'm going to show you with the rest of this chapter how we can stand firm in the lord jesus christ pay attention to the words that i'm telling you because this comes deep from paul's heart because he loves these people so much he doesn't want them wavering he says stand firm in unity not only do we stand firm in the lord who has who is our solid foundation but we need to stand firm in the unity as believers in the lord jesus christ and he implored euodia and syntache to be of the same mind in the lord in the new living translation he says please you belong to the lord will you please settle your disagreements these two women were paul's friends and he is begging them as christians to be reconciled these two ladies were active members in the church they worked with paul they served alongside paul in the cause of the gospel these faithful servants who were faithfully serving the lord jesus christ and serving paul being there whatever his need may have been now have seemed to suffer some kind of disagreement we don't know what happened and maybe that's a good thing we know how nosy we can be we want to know all the dirt on things so this is just left open for our imagination but paul doesn't really give them strong discipline in this letter he's basically saying something happened you guys are in disagreement now get back together again you guys are believers quit making big mountains out of moghills get over yourselves and continue to follow the lord jesus christ there's no um uh immorality that he's pointing out here there's no theological differences no doctrinal error it's just these two ladies are having issues how many of us ladies have had issues and we've allowed those issues to really overtake our service for the lord jesus christ haven't we haven't we found ourselves at time being so put out by a sister in jesus christ that we will actually choose to go to a different church because we don't want to have to see them and deal with them isn't that sad but isn't that so true you know where you see him in a store and you uh-oh and you run the other way we are believers in the lord jesus christ and that's what paul is saying what is going on with you there is disunity between you and that disunity it's going to spread because there's going to be people taking your side and there's going to be people taking your side and jesus's side is completely left out so what do we do as sisters when we have an issue with somebody what do we do when we have an issue that just seems so hard to deal with that we really do want to leave the church we need to repent of that and we need to seek the lord jesus christ asking him to remind us who we are in the lord jesus christ see we are sisters and we are called to love one another to be unified together to allow god to work through those differences and to help us to deal with those differences so we can come back together again and lift up holy hands to continue to serve the lord there is no disagreement so big that god can't fix we at times won't allow him to fix it because we think we're all that we do and we can look at that sister and say whatever and that's not what paul is talking about we need to allow the lord jesus to transform to change our hearts so we can continue serving the lord and and being joyful in that service whether we've had a an issue with a sister or not god's forgiveness can cover everything what gets in the way is our pride now there are so many times that we choose just to sit in our sin and not allow the holy spirit to reveal our own sin to us because we don't want to see it we don't want to come to the true realization that you know what maybe the issue is me and it's not her maybe i need to humble myself and let christ work within me so we can come to that unity again whatever it is we too have been guilty of causing disunity within the church because of our own attitudes in our own hearts we need to remember that we are sisters in the lord jesus christ if we are believers in the lord jesus christ paul i think amen awesome amen okay those of you who are clapping work real hard to keep that unity going okay don't let it let anything trip us up paul i think was kind of throwing hints throughout the whole letter of philippians and and because i believe he loved these two women and again he knows them and he served with them and he probably knows both of their personalities and and not everybody is going to be best friends and hey let's all hang out together that's not reality but there should be a love that just kind of blankets over all of us right and i i think as paul writes this epistle of philippians in verse one or chapter one of verse nine he says this and i think this is kind of like a little hey i hope these sisters are hearing what i'm saying i'm hoping that they're going to pay attention because this is really for you i'm not saying your name yet but this is for you so this i pray that your love may abound still more and more in the knowledge and in all discernment then he says in verse one chapter or chapter one verse 27 let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of christ stand firm in one spirit with one mind striving together for the face of the gospel and then in chapter two verse two he says fulfill my joy by being like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind so i think this was a subtle hint to these women before he gets to chapter four as they're reading this and and maybe i'm sure that paul is trusting that the holy spirit is going to be working in their hearts so by the time they get to chapter four they're going to realize uh he was talking about us we need to set aside our differences and let's keep keep our mind set on what's right and what's real it's important for us as christians to love and to get along with one another for the sake of the gospel for the sake of one another and especially for the glory of the lord we are sisters in the lord that is something that we will always have in common so we can focus on what's you what unites us we are all sinners saved by the grace of god and in that we can come together right if we can just admit to one another that you know what we mess up sometimes we're sinners god's grace is sufficient for us god's grace will cover us his blood is forgiven us let's let's put the past behind us and let's go forward in the lord jesus christ let's don't let anything come against the truth of the gospel amen amen Ephesians chapter four verses one through three says this again paul speaking therefore I a prisoner for serving the lord beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by god always be humble always be gentle be patient with each other making allowances for each other's faults because of your love make every effort to keep yourself united in the spirit binding yourselves together with god's peace what a challenge for us what a great word for us and what a wonderful reminder for us as sisters in the lord to to make allowances for one another to forgive each other's faults and remember that we are all sinners saved by grace paul repeats his earlier exhortations from Philippians three one when he says finally brethren rejoice in the lord he emphasizes the need to find joy in the lord and in the lord only verse four says rejoice in the lord always and i'm going to say it again in case you didn't hear me the first time i said it or even this time i said it i'm going to say it one more time rejoice in the lord rejoice despite this is paul despite being under house arrest not able to see his friends not having his needs met joy is all over this epistle in the philippians in this short epistle there are 10 references to joy paul understands and knows how free rejoicing in the lord can be deep within the soul paul knows that if we are rejoicing we are not going to be nitpicking on one another notice paul says to rejoice in the lord and not in circumstances it's our relationship with the lord that is the real reason to always find joys the real reason to always rejoice jesus's life flowing through our lives will change everything remember that as paul was it with the philippians earlier that he and paul or excuse me he and sylas were changed in prison and remember the earthquake and and the they were locked in chains chained to a wall and yet what were these two men doing they were singing praises singing worship songs and to jesus these men were filled with joy and as paul is telling the philippian church again to be joyful to rejoice in all things they remember hearing him they remember seeing him they know that he was filled with joy so as he writes this these letters to him it's not just words that he's saying this is something that he lived out in his life he knew how to rejoice he understood what the joy of the lord really meant he could whether he was having a hard day or a good day or good was happening to him or bad was happening to him nothing could take away the joy that was settled deep within his heart and the philippians knew that joy is a supernatural fruit of god's spirit and it is internal happiness is external and it depends on our circumstances circumstances are going to come and go but god's joy wells up from the very depths of our soul christian unity happens when as believers in the lord jesus christ we can humble ourselves and come together and rejoice together in the things that god has done verse five says let your gentleness be known to all men because the lord is at hand and in david guzik's commentary he says this there's a good example of this quality when jesus showed gentleness with a woman who was taken in adultery in a setup and was brought to jesus christ he knew how to show a holy gentleness to her he was able to look past her sin and to look at her this word describes the heart of a person who will let the lord fight his battles he knows that vengeance is mine says the lord it describes a person who is really free to let go of his anxieties and all the things that cause him stress because he knows that the lord will take up his cause so let that gentleness be known to all men we as believers need to show gentleness to everyone not just the people that we like not just the people who get along with us but to all men paul exhorts the philippians and he said and the reason you need to do this is because the lord is near the lord is at hand he is coming soon and that in itself should give incentive to live our lives well when we live with the awareness of jesus's soon return it makes it easier to rejoice in the lord as no matter how hard our life can become what do you want to be found doing when jesus christ comes back again what do you want what words do you want on your lips when you hear the trumpets going off what attitudes do you want in your heart knowing that jesus could be coming back at any moment knowing that he's returning it should prompt us compel us to live lives that are willing to sacrifice for others that we can be an example and wanting others to find the lord jesus christ with how we live our lives but are we even looking forward to his coming do we really understand that the lord is near even as our world is falling apart because he is near and this world is messed up it is so messed up and we need jesus christ so desperately i read this in a i don't know where i got it but i like it so i'll share it says the world will drain us and rob us of all spiritual energy and alertness if we let it we must purpose daily moment by moment to seek our rest and restoration in jesus christ only in this will we find ourselves alert watchful and expectantly awaiting the return of our savior to this end the scriptures can call us to be ready but we christians can fool ourselves into thinking that we're okay that we're alert watchful and waiting for the return of the lord when in reality our senses have been doled we can be duped into the sort of inattentiveness that can result in great harm to both self and others as we fail in our own readiness and we fail to warn others so this morning sweet sisters i just want to have you ask yourselves are you awake are you anticipating the lord's return because he is coming soon everybody i hear as we read the scriptures say that lord jesus christ can come back at any moment if he did it did if he does are you going with him are you ready have you received the lord jesus christ as your lord and savior because that's the only way to enter in to eternity are we ready and are we asking others to be ready are we giving them a warning because that you know as i know truth is so relative today is it not you know my truth is good for me your truth is good for you whatever whatever whatever but the lord says no the only truth that matters is god's truth the only way to heaven is through jesus christ and it's our responsibility amen but it's our responsibility as followers of christ is to share that word with others because they are confused they're deceived and they don't even realize it so we know the truth we have been set free and we need to share that truth with us others so they can be set free as well and because of that truth because christ is coming back again paul goes on to say in verses six and seven be anxious for nothing man how many of this have this highlighted in our bible be anxious for nothing instead of being anxious in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to god and if we do that verse seven is a wonderful promise the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds through christ jesus he said stand firm in the lord keep the unity of the spirit keep walking with christ rejoice always jesus christ is coming back at any minute he's near not only is he coming back but he's near right now with us and because of those truths we can rejoice in the lord and we don't have to be anxious for anything supergent says anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows it only empties today of its strength we are not to worry we are not to be anxious or pulled in so many different directions warren wearsby says our hope pulls us in one direction and our fears pull us the opposite directions and we find ourselves being pulled apart the old english root word for worry means to strangle and i like that because in my times of worrying sometimes i feel like i'm being strangled or i can't breathe and i can't handle it and i don't have to do that if i can do what paul has exhorted me to do well i think we all know that feeling of being strangled with fear and in anxiety and worry worry causes ulcers and back pains and headaches and all kinds of stuff things that we don't have to deal with on a daily basis if we could just learn to do the things that paul has called us to do worry is wrong thinking which means happening in our mind and it's also a wrong feeling that is coming into our hearts has a wrong feeling about circumstances the wrong thoughts about people and the wrong thoughts about things worry or anxiousness is the killer of our joy and paul wants us to avoid those things we hear the command not to worry so we say okay i'm not going to worry today and we grit our teeth and then we get sick because we start worrying about how not to worry paul says don't do that and he knows us so well i mean the lord knows us so well so he had to give a step by step how to okay i'm telling you not to worry but i'm gonna tell you how how not to worry but you got to continue to read and see what i'm saying here because i don't want you to become anxious about becoming anxious that's not what i'm talking about and again to quote warren wearsby he says the antidote to worry is a secure mind the peace of god the peace of god that's going to keep your heart like a garrison like a soldier guarding your heart that's god's peace he will keep you he will keep your heart and your mind through jesus when you have a secure mind the peace of god guards you and the god of peace guides you with that kind of protection we don't have to worry the scripture tells us that we overcome worry through prayer prayer supplication and thanksgiving okay now as women and many of us in this room are martha's the first thing we do when we start to get worried about something is what say something what do we do when we first start to worry we panic right and then and then what do we do do we pray next well that's good if you pray next that's good i think many of us getting a habit of we start to freak out a little bit then we got to see how we can fix it and then we try to fix it and then we call our friends and then we say oh my goodness i need to pray okay father help me and then you continue to do what you do don't we that's normally a pretty normal thing and again the holy spirit knows this as he's pinned this epistle for the apostle paul to have us read today we don't have to handle life like that he says pray i want you to pray pray pray okay i want you to pray well father help me well let's take it a little further a little deeper okay prayer is just conversation between you and god right there's no mysterious thing going on you don't have to say oh south father or anything like that it's just your normal conversation how you talk to your friends but with a little more reverence okay because god yeah we need to talk with him in reverence so we pray three different words for prayer as he tells us to pray that carries the connotation of adoration devotion and worship so when we begin to worry the first thing that helps to soothe our souls is to start praising the lord to meditate on his greatness and to meditate on his power because he can do anything and he can do everything that starts to fix the way we're thinking of things next is supplication so we ask god to supply all of our needs to be honest with him to share with him those things that are concerning us those things that are bogging us down those things that are causing us to worry cast those cares to the lord because peter says he cares for us and then the third thing is to be thankful thank him we worship him we give him our needs and then we thank him for answering our prayers for listening for loving us for caring for us we are to thank him in everything because that is a will of god in christ jesus being thankful having the attitude of gratefulness will guard our heart against ladies i want you to hear this it's going to guard our hearts against whining complaining manipulating having that discontented spirit that so many of us have on a day-to-day basis having a heart of gratitude and thankfulness to the lord changes our perspective on life we can really be anxious for nothing pray about everything and be thankful for anything and then we have the peace the promise of peace the peace of god which surpasses all understanding is going to guard your heart and your minds through jesus christ this piece is spoken of in philippines four seven it has the you can't even understand this piece it's the piece that jesus christ himself has given to you and it is so good and so real and so soothing to our soul we can't wrap our minds around it but that piece jesus's peace will become ours as we are doing those things that paul has asked us to do his peace will guard our hearts and our minds it's his peace the peace of god that will be with us day in and day out as we learn how to give those things over to the lord so as he tells us in um sorry john 1427 jesus says my peace i leave with you my peace i give to you not as a world gives do i give to you so let not your heart be troubled never neither let it be afraid it is in christ that we are kept and guarded and secure so in these first seven verses philippines chapter four the apostle paul is encouraging us to stand firm and he tells us those things so life as a believer life living for jesus christ will be an example to those that are watching us as he continues on and gene and sandi and ruth get up and share their portion of the scripture just in this one chapter we would be able to have a victorious christian life if we really apply what the apostle paul is telling us to do we can stand firm we need to stand firm i don't want to see any christian brothers or sister that i love that have been serving alongside me that have walked with me for a while to fall away and start serving other gods to start believing the lies that the enemy is throwing at them on a daily basis wanting to do their own thing because christ just isn't working for them anymore if that is you this morning if you feel that christ just isn't what you thought he was going to be i want to encourage you to really ask him to reveal himself to you and start seeking him on a daily basis for who he is as he has revealed himself to us through the scriptures not just things that you hear about him or even things that you think about him but the truth of who he is as he claims to be in his word because the more we get to know him the deeper we fall in love with him and our intimacy with him grows we want to stand firm i don't want to just please my lord i don't want to just please my loved ones i don't want to be an embarrassment to my jesus and i want to finish well and as i continue to follow the word of god and apply the truth of the word of god to my life i am able to you know ward off i guess the lies that the enemy wants me to believe the lies that he bombards me with on a daily basis and in that i can walk worthy of the calling that has been placed on my life i pray your hearts would be such the ones that are in love with the lord jesus as well that you want to walk worthy that you want to bring no shame to the lord and because it is his love that compels you to want to walk right it is his love that will compel you to want to stand firm and it is his love that will keep us as we continue to look at him as we continue to walk with him as we continue to abide in him watch what happens to our souls watch the confidence we gain within our inner man as we continue to serve him and watch how the world or people in the world will look at you in marvel because you're not a messed up frico our world is messed up ladies it really is and i guess that was kind of not nice to say but you know what they're hopeless they are really hopeless and you know that just as well as i do but jesus christ can fix that hopelessness he died for that hopelessness amen and i pray i pray that as you and i continue to live our lives for the lord we can share the hope of jesus christ to all those that are still um denying the truth of who jesus really is i have my loved ones that i'm still praying for who are denying the reality of who jesus christ is and they're looking for their own truth the only truth is jesus and i pray amen and i pray that we will continue to seek his truth walk in his truth and live in his truth so we are able to stand firm in him amen amen let's pray