Study the Word

Guest (Male): Pastor Tom Keller on godly greetings.

Thom Keller: Listen, can you imagine a dear friend that you haven't seen for months hugging you and saying Carl, Juan, I thank God for you every time I remember you. Every time I think of you, I thank God for you. How would that feel to hear that? Wouldn't that be amazing? Then maybe if we want to begin saying that to people, we should start praying that way.

Guest (Male): Just imagine if we greeted our brothers and sisters in Christ the way Paul did. This is study the word a time of teaching and application featuring Tom Keller, the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Lebanon, Pennsylvania. One of the great benefits of studying God's word verse by verse is a more robust understanding of scripture, even the mundane and seemingly ordinary parts of the Bible. Today pastor Tom zooms in and unpacks Paul's greeting to the Philippians. You may ask what does it matter? Well, we learned today that these godly instructions to Paul's writing is evidence for the Holy Spirit at work.

Let's turn now to Philippians chapter 1 verse 3 and get started.

Thom Keller: As you're turning to Philippians 1, I greeted someone at the front of the church this morning and they told me they lost their job on Friday. I said, oh my goodness, I'm sorry. What happened? They said, well, my boss told me I'm supposed to leave my problems at the door when I come to work. I said, and what happened? I told him to go stand outside the door. So the cause of that person's problem is that what was in his heart came out of his mouth. And isn't that what ultimately happens eventually what's in our heart comes out of our mouths?

So today in our lesson, we're going to discover some ways to set our hearts toward others in ways that allows the right words to come out of our hearts, kind words, gentle words, affirming words, grace filled words instead of words of of very different nature. So Philippians 1 verse 3. Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy. For you have been my partners in spreading the good news about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God who began the good work within you will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Paul says, every time I think of you, I give thanks to God. Wow, isn't that a beautiful statement? Think about it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had such loving hearts toward those who we who come to our minds that when they came to our mind, our very first thought would be to thank God for that person. Isn't that a great goal? That when a person comes to mind, our very first thought is to thank God for them. So how do we apply this practically in our lives? So you're at work and God brings your coworker Jim to your mind and you say God, thank you for Jim.

Or your boss, God, thank you for my boss who's now standing outside the door because I told him to stand there. Or maybe on your prayer list. Instead of saying God, make my husband less self-centered, instead God, thank you for my husband. Please help both of us be less self-centered. Instead of father, make my uncle leave his girlfriend and go back to his family. Maybe instead father, thank you for my uncle. He's a good man deep inside who's lost his way. Please lead him back to his wife and children. Because I suspect that if we start our prayers by thanking God for that person, it will help us formulate our prayer in a more loving, more honoring way.

Just think about that. If every prayer is God, I thank you for Jerry and then the prayer, how differently it would come out. You know, there are some greetings in the Bible that are just so Holy Spirit breathed that no human being could ever have come up with it. They're just amazing. An example is Jude verse 24. Now all glory to God who's able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy in his glorious presence without a single fault. What human writes things like that? That's so obviously God breathed. And the same is true here I think in Philippians 1 3.

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. How could that not be breathed by the Holy Spirit? That's so God. Listen, can you imagine a dear friend that you haven't seen for months hugging you and saying Carl, Juan, I thank God for you every time I remember you. Every time I think of you, I thank God for you. How would that feel to hear that? Wouldn't that feel amazing? Then maybe if we want to begin saying that to people, we should start praying that way. That when we think of them, we do thank God for them so that when we see them, we can say every time I think of you, I thank God for you.

Listen, there's some of your friends that they don't think anybody could thank God for them. Maybe you'll be that person. And one reason Paul thank God for the members of the Philippian church is found in verse 5. He says, for you have been my partners in spreading the good news about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And you know, if you are personally involved in spreading the good news, if you're personally involved in evangelism, sharing the gospel with others, you are also even today one of Paul's partners in spreading the good news.

And if you're not personally involved in spreading the good news, if it's something you've never shared with someone or never led anyone to Christ, I have some really good news for you. We're working on developing the office of evangelism. Many of you know that. And we are very excited about the varied opportunities that will be coming for training and practice in this area of leading others to Christ. I've said this before, but if you've never led anyone to Christ and that's don't feel bad about that. It's an opportunity. But there is no high like the high you get when you pray with someone to receive Christ.

There's nothing like it because you know you've just touched eternity. You know you've just walked right across the other side with this person in hand and they're going to be there someday. Nothing gets close to that. And verse 6 is a keeper. Maybe mark this as a memory verse. Philippians 1 6 in the new King James being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. He who has begun this work in you being confident in this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever known someone who was maybe really great at starting projects but not so great at finishing them? Don't look left or right. Do you ever know anybody like that? A 15 year old came home from school one day and said to his father, Pop, my teacher told me I never amount to much because I procrastinate so much. I told him just you wait. Procrastination, that is a real weakness in some people, isn't it? But procrastination is not something that Jesus struggles with. If Jesus has begun his work in you by granting you salvation, you have God's promise here, his promise that he will complete that work, that God will complete your salvation, finalize your salvation, fulfill his promise to save you on the day of Jesus Christ, on the day you close your eyes and depart this world.

Paul says being confident in Greek these are strong words. It means to be fully and firmly persuaded or convinced. It means that Paul was entirely convinced of the truth of what he said. It is the language of a man that has absolutely no doubt about the subject of which he is speaking. And then it says that he which hath begun a good work in you. Paul states here that this work, your salvation was begun by God. It was not accomplished by the will of man, by your decision to draw close to God. It was begun by God.

And as a result, Paul's firm conviction is that our salvation would be permanent. He's saying in essence God began it, he will see it through to the end. But if our salvation is the result of man's action, if the perseverance of the Christian be be depends wholly on the person himself, then there could be no sure confidence that you will ever reach heaven if it depends on you. Paul says here that he is confident in this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perfect it, will complete it, will perform it on the day of Jesus Christ.

And the Bible confirms this over and over. First Corinthians 1 who will sustain you to the end guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ to the end. Second Timothy. For this reason I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day. Second Timothy 4. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day and not only to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

And first Timothy 1 strong words. We have a priceless inheritance, an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. It says he will complete this work. In Greek the word is It means to bring to an end, to finish, to accomplish, to perfect, to execute, to complete. He will bring your salvation to completion. And why does Paul really why does God want you to be fully persuaded that God will complete your salvation on the day you depart earth?

That is guaranteed because until you are fully persuaded of the fact that your salvation is entirely based on what Jesus did rather than in what you did for Jesus, you will only ever experience conditional acceptance from God leading to doubts of salvation. Cuz here's the truth. If your salvation is based upon your performance, doubts will always abound. Listen again because if your salvation is based on your performance, you will always doubt your salvation. Cuz I said this before, whenever performance enters a relationship, that relationship becomes conditional. Whenever performance enters a relationship, husband, wife, child, son, mother, daughter, whenever performance enters a relationship, that relationship becomes conditional.

You don't want a conditional relationship with the Lord. Now some use this verse to say that Paul is making a case for sanctification, that God promises to keep washing us, to clean us up, to sanctify us right up until our dying breath. You could make an application of that, but I'm not sure it's the primary point because although we know that this is his will and plan for us, sanctification, it requires our cooperation. And the truth is some don't cooperate with his sanctification process. And what makes sanctification not probably Paul's intended point here is that sanctification will not be completed by the time your earthly life is over, which it says here it is.

It will not be completed by the time you leave this earth for that would require you to reach perfection right before you leave. And that 's not what it says. The Greek says to finish, to bring to an end, to accomplish, to execute, to complete, to perfect. You're not going to be perfected the day before you leave this earth as far as sanctification goes. Salvation perfected. Could it be a side application? Certainly. I don't think it's a primary. It doesn't quite own that. Now moving on to verse 7. It says this. It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart.

For you are all partakers with me of grace both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus. Paul held the Philippian church in a very special place in his heart relative to the other churches because these saints in Philippi shared in Paul's trials and because they also supported him materially when he was in prison. Philippians 4 verse 15 moving ahead four chapters, it says this. As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I fought first brought you the good news and then traveled on from Macedonia.

No other church did this. Verse 7 says both in my bonds and in my defense of the gospel. And most believe that he is referring to help that they gave him while he was in Rome awaiting trial before Nero. And then going under verse 9 to 11. I pray that your love will overflow more and more and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding for I want you to understand what really matters so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation, the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ.

For this will bring much glory and praise to God. What a beautiful prayer this is and for our church too that our love as a church would overflow more and more and that we would keep growing in our knowledge and understanding. Some of your translations say knowledge and insight, most say knowledge and discernment. And this echoes Paul's prayer to the church in Colossae. As a pastor, I've said this before, this is my life verse as a pastor of this church, Colossians 2 2 and 3. I want them, I want you to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love.

I want you to have complete confidence that you understand God's mysterious plan which is Christ himself. In him, in Christ lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In Christ lie all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. You know, I've said this before, but the older I get, the more you know it's said about the apostle John that when he got old and couldn't walk, they carried him around on a stretcher from church to church. And what he would say over and over when he got to the churches was this simple statement, my little children love one another.

My little children love one another. My little children love one another. Three years with with Jesus. The apostle that lived longer than any of the other apostles, the only one that wasn't martyred. As he distilled his ministry and theology down to one sentence, my little children love one another. And here's my point. You know, you distill all this down folks. This is what it comes down to. This is the essence of life. It's all about Jesus and Jesus is all about love. If you get that right, people say well, that's a mushy love. No, love love includes discipline.

It's mushy love that doesn't discipline. But true love when needed disciplines. So that's a part of that equation, but listen to it again. It's all about Jesus and Jesus is all about love. Folks, if you get that right in your marriage, in your family, in the work setting, you're going to have a lot right. And you know that God answers prayers prayed with pure motives and right hearts. He just does. I say most every Sunday that our prayer would be on a Sunday morning that you would sense the love of Jesus in this place, the love that he has for you and the love that the body has for one another.

And I know that God has answered that prayer. That's why I pray it every Sunday. It's such an incredibly important, significant prayer. How do I know that he's answered that prayer? Cuz I have so many people come to the back of the church and tell me when I first came to this church, I felt such a sense of love when I came in and sat down. And here's the truth. In a world where genuine, unconditional love has become an increasingly rare commodity, the love of our fellowship on a Sunday morning feels like heaven to someone who lives in a loveless existence.

Listen again. The love of our fellowship on a Sunday morning feels like heaven to someone who is living a loveless existence. Listen, you think of all the settings where there are loveless existence existences. In some couples that's the case. In some families that's the case. In some work settings, it's nothing but conflict and and envy and self-seeking. They may not get that love anywhere until they come in here and sense that love. It's so critically important folks that this be what we're about. So on a Sunday morning before you come to church, as you walk to work, as you drive to church, may I encourage you to pray a prayer something like this.

Father God, I or on our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon. Study the word with pastor Tom Keller is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Lebanon. May God richly bless you as you study the word.