up to Philippians chapter 1. Last Sunday we began to focus on the opening verses of Paul's letter to the Philippians by looking at the first two verses. There Paul identified himself as a slave of Christ and refers to the Philippians as saints in Christ. We saw that all of those who are chosen by God for salvation in His Son are indeed saints, meaning that they are set apart by God for His holy work. They are also slaves, having been redeemed or purchased by Christ from their previous slavery and now belong to Him. So, all of us, each one of us in this room, who have trusted in Christ, are both His slaves and His saints, by the grace of God. Amen? And since we belong to God, and since we are set apart unto Him, we have the great privilege and blessing coming before Him in prayer. Prayer is a means that God has given to us of connecting with Him and having fellowship with Him. Prayer also builds intimacy. It builds an intimacy both with God and with those for whom we pray. In the next few verses of Paul's letter, we are going to gain some insights into prayer through Paul's example to us. Paul experiences great joy in giving thanks to God for his partners in ministry, his brothers and sisters in Philippi. In our text for today, we shall see that we should be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ. And our prayers should include giving thanks to God for his blessings in our lives. And in so doing, we will experience God's grace, God's peace, and joy. So if you can, please stand for the reading of our text I'm going to start reading in verse 1, so Philippians chapter 1, we'll be reading verses 1 through 8. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 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. May God bless the reading of his holy word to us. You may be seated. As has already been mentioned, Paul had a great love and affection for the saints in Philippi. And we will see that expressed throughout this letter. Starting here in verses 7 and 8 where he states, I hold you in my heart and I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus. Later in this letter he will call them my beloved and my brothers whom I love and long for my joy and my crown. Clearly the church in Philippi has a very special place in Paul's heart. That love for them causes Paul to pray for them, to intercede for them to God. Intercessory prayer is an expression of Christ-like love. Paul was a believer in prayer, specifically intercessory prayer, which is praying for others. Jesus had set the example in this, as he spent time daily praying to the Father and interceding for his disciples, which, by the way, he is still doing to this very day. Paul likewise understood both our need to pray, to spend time talking to our God, the need for us to be interceding on behalf of others, and others to be interceding on behalf of us. In an earlier letter that he wrote to the Corinthians, Paul wrote these words in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verse 11. You also must help us by prayer. so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many." Now this is a powerful statement by an apostle of Jesus Christ who's acknowledging to his brothers and sisters in Christ that he covets their prayers. Paul wanted them to know that he needed their prayers to accomplish the work that God had given him to do. He wanted many to be praying for him, and he would, of course, remember them in his prayers just as he stated he was doing with the Philippians. He was praying for the saints. He will write something very similar to the Ephesians in Ephesians 6 verses 18 and 19. We read these words, "...praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints and also for me." Paul is encouraging those in the church, not only to pray, but to persevere in prayer, to continue to pray, to continue to lift up the saints, and to lift him up. You see, it's vital that we be lifting up one another. And listen to me, not just praying for physical needs, but praying for the spiritual needs of the body of Christ. To pray for the spiritual well-being of our brothers and sisters in Christ. There's nothing wrong with praying for the sick. There's nothing wrong with praying for those who are poor or those who need housing. There's nothing wrong with that at all, and I encourage you to do so. But let's not stop there. Let's also pray that our brothers and sisters will be effective witnesses for Christ. Let's pray that they will continue to grow in grace and knowledge. Let's pray that they will be equipped for the work of the ministry. And as our dear brother Eric prayed, your elders, your pastors, covet your prayers, that God would empower us to do the work that he's called us to do. This was the Apostle Paul's prayer. He lets us know that we can and should make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ by lifting them up at our prayers, by interceding for them, by making supplications. Supplications means pleading. pleading for them to our Heavenly Father. It's a great privilege that we've been given to come before the throne of God in prayer. We need to follow Paul's example ourselves. Not only should we be taking our own needs to our Heavenly Father, but we should be lifting up our brothers and sisters in Christ on a daily basis. because we believe in the power of prayer. Amen? You are undoubtedly here today because someone was praying for you. I know that's true in my case. And so we need to understand that. Just as James tells us in James 5 16, the prayer of a righteous person has great power. That is God's truth. That's God's word. The prayer of a righteous person has great power. Now, I understand that God is sovereign. I understand that God is all-knowing and He's all-powerful, and God will do according to His perfect will. But part of His perfect will is that we would come to Him in prayer with our requests. And that somehow, in the divine scheme of things, those prayers are effective. They are powerful. They move the hand of God. Or maybe we should say God allows them to move his hand. We have been created by God and we have been credited by God with the righteousness of Christ. And we have the spirit empowered ability to lift up our brothers and sisters in our prayers. And God tells us that those prayers have great power. So please do not neglect to spend time in prayer. Do not neglect to spend time interceding for your brothers and sisters and for your pastors and elders. We also should follow Paul's example in spending time giving thanks to God for all of the blessings that He has given to us. Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God has done. Do you know something? That when we spend time giving thanks to God for all of the blessings, it puts the challenges of this life in the right perspective. Amen? It changes us. It changes our heart. It changes our attitude. It changes our focus. And it brings glory to Him. So, we should be spending time giving thanks to God. Paul writes, I thank my God. Note that. My God. What a personal way to refer to our Heavenly Father. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always, in every prayer of mine for you all. So there is a portion of every prayer that Paul prays that he is giving thanks to God for those that he is praying for. So not only should we be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever their need might be, but let's give thanks to God that they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen. Now, that was weak. Should we give thanks for our brothers and sisters in Christ? Amen. I mean, that we can even call them our brother and sister in Christ. because that means God has saved them and adopted them and made them his beloved children. And he's done that for us. Amen. And joined us into one family. Paul not only interceded for the saints, he also gave thanks to God for them and for their partnership in the gospel. More about that in a couple of minutes. But let me ask you this. How much of your time in prayer is spent giving thanks to God? Surveys tell us, Christian surveys, tell us that the average Christian in America spends five minutes or less in prayer every day. So how much of that five minutes do you suppose is spent giving thanks to God? Most people, I would suspect, spend most of their time in prayer making their requests known to God, which is not a bad thing. Certainly, our Heavenly Father wants us to come to Him with our needs, but He also deserves to receive our thanks and praise. for the manifold blessings that he's blessed us with. Amen. And so I would encourage you to do this later in this very letter, Paul is going to encourage us to do this in Philippians chapter four, verses six and seven. We read these words. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, let me tell you this. That's a memory verse that you should hide in your heart. Because in this world, we shall have tribulation. And if we want to have the peace of God in this world, that peace comes from our bringing our supplications to Him with thanksgiving. The thanksgiving changes our heart, and it helps us to recognize how powerful our God is. So we are to be giving thanks to God in our text. Paul acknowledges that he gives thanks to God in all his remembrance of these saints because of their partnership or participation in the gospel, depending on your translation. The Greek word here translated partnership is koinonia, which can also be translated as fellowship or participation. Its root meaning is to share something in common. Do we share something in common with our brothers and sisters in Christ? Absolutely! We share Christ in common. We share the fact that we are saints in Christ Jesus in common. We share the fact that we are slaves of Christ Jesus. And we share the fact that we have been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. that by the free grace of God we have become partakers with Paul of the saving grace that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. That is something to give thanks for. Amen? Daily. Paul is also very thankful that they have entered into a partnership with Paul to make the gospel known to others and to support Paul's efforts to do so. They themselves have become witnesses for Christ and they have supported him as a missionary for Christ and a church planter, sharing with him by praying, by giving financially, and by sending one of their own, Epaphroditus, to minister unto him in his imprisonment. Their desire was to see many more people come to salvation through hearing and believing the gospel message. That message which is the power of God unto salvation. That message that proclaims that Jesus, the Son of God, became a man in order to die as the sacrifice for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. That he was buried and that on the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures and he ascended back into heaven to rule over his kingdom. Paul gave thanks to God for all the gospel partners that God had given to him. Remember the work establishing and building Christ Church on this earth is not given to one man. It's not possible for one man. It requires gospel partners within every church, in every town, in every city. Gospel partners to be the church. That's what we're called to. To be the church of the living God. to be a light in this present darkness. It requires gospel partners to share in the gospel work, the work of making disciples, the work of teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded. And let me tell you this, this is the most important work on the face of the earth. There is no other work, no other calling that is more important than us being ministers of the gospel. And it's something we must do together. I cannot do it without you. You cannot do it without me. That's the way God designed the body of Christ, that we would live in fellowship, in community with one another. encouraging one another, building up one another, strengthening one another, loving one another, caring for one another, partnering with one another for the sake of the gospel. It must be done together. Paul was also thankful for the absolute confidence that he had in God's sovereign plan to complete the work that he had started. Philippians 1.6 is one of my all-time favorite verses. Let me read that again. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Who began the good work in Paul. God did. Right? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Who began the good work in the saints in the Philippi? God did. That's who he's referring to here. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. Is our God faithful? Amen. Is our God going to do what he says he's going to do? Amen. Paul knew firsthand that it was God who began a good work in each and every saint by causing them to be born again unto salvation. Paul knew that the Father predestined them to salvation. The Son came and paid the price for their salvation and the Holy Spirit effectively called them to salvation. through the gospel. Paul had experienced all of that himself, and he had seen it in the lives of the saints in Philippi. But that was only the start of what God was doing in the lives of each one of those saints. You see, God had not only predestined them to salvation and adoption, But He had also predestined them to sanctification. He predestined them to be transformed and conformed into the image of His Son. Just as the Son is the image of the Father, God's plan is for you and I, the saints, to be the image of the Son. and He will bring it to pass. This is exactly what Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans. In fact, we turn to Romans chapter 8. I'm going to read verses 28 to 30. Verse 29 and 30 will be on the screen, but I'm going to start reading in verse 28. Very familiar passage. And we know that for those who love God, All things work together for good to those who are called according to his purpose. Let me stop there for a second. Why do we love God? Because he first loved us, right? Because he chose to love us, because he chose to save us and he chose to call us not for our purpose, but for his purpose. And then he goes on. to say this, verse 29, "...for those whom God foreknew, God also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined, He also called. Those whom He called, He also justified. Those whom He justified, He also glorified." This is often referred to as the golden chain of salvation. in that God chose in eternity past who he would save, but not only that he would save them, not only that he would justify them through the sacrifice of his son, but that he would. Sanctify them. And glorify them. All of us in this room are who have trusted in Christ are in the process of being sanctified. God is working in us to further conform us into the image of his Son. But one day, when we see him face to face, we shall be glorified. Amen? And that will be glorious. Amen? So back in our text, Paul simply states the confidence that he has in God's power and ability to complete the work that he has started in each of his beloved children, the work of total conformity to Christ. I'm not quite there yet. I assure you. And I also assure you, neither are you. But I am confident that God will complete His work in you and in me. I'm confident of that fact. If we're chosen by the Father, we're chosen for absolute conformity to His Son. And this work will be completed at the day of Jesus Christ. The day of Jesus Christ speaks of the day when the Father sends the Son back to earth to complete the work of conforming us to His Son, when we receive our glorified resurrection body and we are finally made to be in His image as risen and glorified children of God. But until that day, God is at work through His Spirit, through His Word, through His Church, and through all the means of grace to sanctify us and further conform us to Jesus Christ. John, the Apostle John, picks this up in his first letter. In 1 John 3, 1 and 2, John writes these words, See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is because it didn't know Him. Verse 2, Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as he is pure. So John is saying the same thing, that you and I may not be quite finished baking yet. We may not be quite at the point that when you look at me, you see Jesus. You don't see Steve, you see Jesus. That's the goal. And God is going to complete that work and we can be confident in that. and we can give thanks for that. Amen? The clear teaching of Scripture is that those who have been predestined to salvation by God are then sanctified, conformed to the image of Christ, and eventually glorified. And all by the grace of God. Sanctification is the work of God's Spirit within every true believer. The Westminster Shorter Catechism describes it in this way. the work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die to sin and to live to righteousness. We are by the power of the Spirit to strive to die to sin and to live for Christ. to live righteous lives and by the grace and power of God we will make progress in this life. That should be the goal of every one of us as children of God and that should be something that we are praying for our brothers and sisters. We will stumble at times just like the Philippian believers did but God will never let us fall away. He will bring correction into our lives. He will lift us back up and he will continue the work that he has begun in each one of his children. He will not let us go. Praise God. This brought great comfort and joy to Paul as it should to us as well. It does to me as your pastor, because I know I'm not adequate for the task. I'm not adequate for the task of helping you be fully conformed to the image of Christ. That's beyond the scope of my abilities. That's above my pay grade. I can be used by God, and Pastor Don and Eric as well, as your elders, we can be used by God to help you in that process. But ultimately, we are thankful that we know God is going to finish the work to perfection. Amen? Paul then goes on to express his love for all the saints in Philippi. Look at verses 7 and 8 with me again. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart. For you were 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. Let me tell you something, that's a lot of affection. Paul says, I yearn for you with the affection of Christ Jesus. Paul missed the saints in Philippi, sort of like a parent misses a child who moves away. Paul had an intense love for them, a Christ-like love, a compassion and love that compelled Jesus to teach God's truth to the people also compelled Paul to continue to love and care for all of the saints. When the affection of Christ grips our heart, absence only makes the heart grow fonder. We have some beautiful brothers and sisters in Christ who were once members of our church that have moved away. Does that mean we stop loving them? Does that mean we stop caring about them? Does that mean we stop praying for them? No, absolutely not. Paul loved the brothers and sisters in Christ in each of the cities where he administered. And Paul's love for them filled him with a strong desire to help them and to encourage them in Christ. Paul took his role as a shepherd of God's people very seriously. And that's what led him to write these extraordinary letters to the churches. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul describes shepherds or pastors as a gift from God to his church. And he describes their role as being to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. It's a high calling to shepherd the saints of God, the children of God, and to do so properly It requires those shepherds to love all those who God has placed under them with the love and affection of Jesus Christ. That's what we should be looking for in our pastors, in our elders. Men who love the people of God and are willing to do whatever it takes to equip them for the work of the ministry. We all fall short of that goal. But we covet your prayers in that regard. And as we are aging, we covet your prayers for those that God will raise up to replace us in that role. That's something I pray for every single day. Because that man is alive right now. I hope. I know he is. And I pray for that person that God will bring. He will bring someone who will love you. How is this possible? With man, it's not possible, but with God, all things are possible. How is it possible for us to love all of the saints, all of our brothers, sisters in Christ? That word all is kind of scary, isn't it? Okay? All are not equally easy to love. I'm glad I didn't hear an amen. With man it is not possible, but with God all things are possible because God pours His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit so that we can then pour out that love in serving and caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ. God not only overwhelms us with his love for us, but he also pours that love into us so we can pour it out into others. And this is exactly what we see in the Apostle Paul. And that is what we should be looking for in pastors and elders. Men who will love us and pour into us so that we can then pour our lives into others. And we will see that very clearly when we get to the second chapter of this letter. Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 through 4, Paul talks about the need for us to put the needs of others before our own needs. To consider others as more important than ourselves. Paul calls each one of us to follow his example and in loving our brothers and sisters in Christ with a Christ-like love. An unconditional, sacrificial, unselfish love. That's what we're called to. And again, without the Holy Spirit, that's impossible. But through the Holy Spirit, the power of God within us, through the love of God being poured into our hearts, it is possible. and something we should strive for, something we should be praying for, asking for, and then practicing. Love our brothers and sisters in Christ with a Christ-like love. That will then enable us to live in a manner that will please and glorify Christ and accomplish the mission that He has given us, that mission to be His witnesses, to be His light in this present darkness. They will know we are Christians by our love. And when we are loving one another, and when we are encouraging one another to love Christ, others will notice that. That is not something that is common in this world. That is something that is supernatural. And not only does it bring glory to Christ, but it's going to give us opportunities to be His witnesses. So I want to encourage you this morning. We need to be praying for the saints. As often as we can. We need to be giving thanks to God. for all of his blessings, but especially for the family of God that he has placed us in. And we are to continue having confidence in God that he will complete the work that he has started in us. That's where our confidence is, not in our ability, but in his power. And we are to be loving all the saints. Stretch yourselves a little bit. Meet some of those that are on the other side of the sanctuary from you. Get to know them. They may look different than you. They might be a different age than you are. But God has brought us all together to be brothers and sisters in His Son. To be one family, one body of Christ. And that requires us to love and care for one another. This is my prayer for us. Join me in asking God to help us do that. Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity for us to be reminded of the great work that you are doing on planet Earth. That great work of building your church. And you do it one soul at a time. And you not only save those that you have chosen to save through faith in your son, but you also place them into your body, adopted into your family. They become our brothers and sisters in Christ. And Father God, we thank you for this local expression of the body of Christ. this local expression of your family. We thank you for those that you have brought together to be our partners in ministry here. Loving one another. Praying for one another. Giving thanks for one another. Acknowledging, Father God, that you are working in us and through us to accomplish your perfect will. Help us, Father. Help us, Father. to follow the example that is set before us by Your Son. Help us in these things. And we will pray, Father God, that as a result, You will be glorified in us and through us. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.