Good morning. As I was driving here this morning I was thinking about Wilson and I was thinking about how many years he greeted us at the door and the thought occurred to me that the Lord greeted him yesterday as he entered into heaven. We have that hope. And I wanted to say also that that hope that we have, it's not a platitude. We don't just say that. We hear that a lot when people die. Oh, he's with the Lord. Well, he is with the Lord. Christ is risen. He is risen. He is the first fruits from the dead and he is coming to take us home with him. And what did the Lord say to the thief on the cross on the day that he was crucified? Today you will be with me in paradise. That is where our brother is right now. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father we thank you for this blessed hope that we have, this rock of assurance. Christ is risen. And because Christ is risen, we can have joy as we're singing. We can have joy that we will see you and we will see all of our loved ones who have died in the Lord. Precious, the sight of God is the death of his saints. We love you, Lord, and we pray that you'd help us this morning as we get into your word, that you would teach us from it. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Meredith is telling me that I forgot my Bible but I have it all here in my notes. It's okay. We're covered. A few months ago when we went to Honduras I started to get an inkling that I was an American in a foreign place the minute I got on the airplane and people started speaking Spanish. And then we got off the plane and I tried to order coffee and I was a mess. I knew a little bit of Spanish. Café con leche, I know that now. But immediately, the smells were different, the language was different, the sights were different. I had a very strong sense that I was an American. But we were there as representatives of Jesus Christ, not as Americans. And when we met the believers that were there, Mario and Renee, immediately we felt brotherhood with them. We belong with them. And then when we met the Christians in Choloteca, what a beautiful time we had with them. We were home even though we were not at home. That's how it is with the saints. At the end of chapter 3, Paul reminded them of their citizenship in heaven. And he did this in the context of reminding them of, he had just been talking about the dogs, do you remember that? The Judaizers who were corrupting the gospel, whose minds were set on earthly things, whose God is their belly. And he was reminding them that our citizenship is in heaven. our minds ought not to be set on earthly things. Being part of a Roman colony, the Philippian people had a strong sense of, well the Christians especially, of their dual citizenship. They were surrounded by enemies as a colony of Rome but they knew that their names were written on the books in Rome as citizens. And at the same time, he reminds them, your citizenship is in heaven. Our names are written on the book in heaven by the hand of God. Paul reminds them of this. It is far more important to have your name written in heaven than in a book on this earth. So in the context of this, he addresses a problem. in verse 2 of chapter 4. So open your Bibles to chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4 verse 2. I entreat you Uodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also true companion. The King James or the New King James says yoke fellow. And I think I actually think that's a better translation. Help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your reasonableness, I think a better word is gentleness, which is the New King James's gentleness, be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. 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 passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Imagine hearing this letter for the very first time. It's been delivered to them by hand from the Apostle Paul and then suddenly They're getting toward the end of the letter. He's about to close and all of a sudden these two names were read. These weren't just any women. They were women that had served side by side with Paul establishing the church in Philippi. He asked his true companion, I'm not sure who this is, maybe it's Epaphroditus, the guy that was taking the letter. Maybe it was him, his yoke fellow, which has this image of these two oxen being yoked together, striving, working for the kingdom. Not only is his friend, his yoke fellow, Epaphroditus possibly, but these two women as well. They had suffered together with him. And they had suffered together with Clement. I'm sure you could have heard a pin drop in the room, maybe some audible gasps from the back of the room. The elderly, Paul was elderly. He was in prison. He was in Rome, a very far distance. And whatever these women were disagreeing on had made such a commotion. Had he gotten all the way back to Rome? Paul was the one they were trying to encourage, remember. He hears about this commotion and he has to write about it. But why would this need to be an audible rebuke? Why couldn't he just send a private note to these two ladies? Surely these weren't the only people in Philippi that had a disagreement. Consider this, he had just gotten done telling them to follow his example, to follow the example of the mature in Christ as they follow Christ. And here are these two women, very influential, pillars in their church, having a disagreement that is so significant it is disturbing the body enough that they have to tell Paul about it. about. your own disobedience being reflected in your family, it's extremely humbling. As the head of my home, that's what happens. When my attitude goes into the gutter, so does everyone else's. Those of us who are in the body of Christ who are established as leaders by the Lord, we have a very important responsibility recount what he had to say to Peter in front of everyone. Peter was sitting alone with the Judaizers, not mingling with the Gentiles. Peter didn't actually believe you had to be obedient to the law in order to be saved, but he was acting as if you did. So Peter, Paul, had to call him out in front of everyone. What is the effect of Peter the apostle corrupting the gospel? It would have been catastrophic not only to them but to us. So Paul had to call him out and I think that is why these two women are being called out in this way. It's not because he's being mean it's because Paul loves the body of Christ. Our souls are too important. There is a lot about this passage that is very familiar to us. I think it's kind of like an old song that you've heard a thousand times. How many times have we heard the tender admonition, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. That has been so encouraging to all of us, especially this week. How many times have we been blessed by the promise attached to that? That when we let our requests be made known to him, he will give us peace in our hearts. The peace that we want is not something that we create. It's something God creates in us when we take our requests to him. Or the phrase, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. How many of you sang that at camp? I know I did, over and over and over. The phrase, the Lord is near. The phrase, our names are written in heaven. All these are precious truths. You ever heard the song, Born in the USA? Yeah, everyone's heard that, right? It's been used in, Countless political rallies. Did you know that that song is sarcastic? I'm using this as an example. We can hear these words over and over and over and they can bring comfort to us but we don't think about the context in which it is being said. He's addressing the problem in verse 2 between these two women. How is it that rejoicing the Lord, we don't think about this, that rejoicing the Lord, taking our anxieties to Him in prayer, knowing that our names are written in heaven, knowing that the Lord is near, is the remedy for the sin that these women are engaged in. Paul could just say, just knock it off. Just stop it. Stop doing that. But he doesn't do that. Bullying people and coercing them to obey does not produce the obedience of faith. It does not produce heart obedience. Here's what it does produce. It produces outward conformity, it produces inward deadness, and it produces hypocrisy. You show me a church that is filled with this kind of obedience, I will show you a church where there's hidden sin everywhere. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin, Romans 14, 23. 1 Timothy 1, 5, Paul says to Timothy, the aim of our charge is love, not by coercion. but from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. This is what Paul is driving at. He's driving at sincerity, love. It is only this type of sincere love that will make Paul's joy complete. This is why he's pouring himself out. The aim of his charge is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. If all that was produced through his preaching was obedience that was just external, Paul would have felt that all of his ministry was in vain. So he says, make my joy complete. He was joyful when they came to Christ. But now he wants us to walk in obedience to the Lord, obedience that is from the heart. Therefore, Paul gently entreats both of them, calling them fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Why would he remind them of this, that their names are in the book of life? What does joy do in a Christian? It's our strength. Reminding you that your name is in the book of life produces joy in your heart. This is what he's driving at. This is why he said in chapter two, if you flip back there, in verse one, so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, If you have these things, if you have encouragement, comfort, if you have the spirit in you, complete my joy, being of the same mind, being of the same love, being in full accord and in one mind. This is what he's saying to these women in chapter four as well. To be of the same mind. Putting the needs of others ahead of your own. The encouragement that is in Christ, the hope that we have, it bears good fruit. It bears fruit in keeping with repentance. It produces joy. It produces peace. Colossians, I think it's, I didn't write the reference down here, I think it's chapter two, or chapter one, I'm sorry. We thank God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the hope that you have for all the saints. I'm sorry, the love that you have for all the saints. Why did the Colossians love the saints? Verse five, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. That's why. Friends, if you are a believer and you don't have hope, Don't think that you can just run into battle. You need hope in Christ. You need to return to the gospel. Look to the cross and what Christ did for you. The gospel doesn't just get you in the kingdom, it causes you to bear fruit as a believer. This is why we keep reminding you of it over and over again. As it does among you since the day you heard it and understand the grace and understood the grace of God and truth. If you don't understand the grace of God, you won't bear fruit. What happens to a lot of Christians, they get saved And then they try to obey out of legalistic conformity and they don't understand grace. And what happens to them? They get miserable or they become legalists. This is not what God wants for us, it's not his plan. All of us need the hope of salvation. We need to be wearing that helmet on our heads. It's the helmet in the armor of God. So many Christians do not have the helmet on. If they're going to complete Paul's joy, being of the same mind and being of full accord, they first need to be encouraged in the Lord. And that's what he does. He reminds them their names are written in heaven. And do not miss this. I know I'm repeating myself. Don't miss this. Don't walk out of here thinking, great, we hear another sermon. Think about what I'm saying. If you lack joy and you lack assurance, you will not be able to be fruitful. You need Christ. Even the mature need Christ, need to be reminded. Until the day we die, we're going to be taking the Lord's Supper. And what do we get in the Lord's Supper? We get reminded of what Christ did for us. Don't hurry off into battle without your helmet on. You will get destroyed. You need the helmet of hope. This is what Paul is doing. He's taking the helmet and he's putting it on their heads, in a sense. That's what he's doing. If anybody had the authority to tell them to knock it off, it was Paul. But that's not what he did. He gently entreated them. in the Lord. And then he follows this by saying, rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Again this is not a moralistic duty to rejoice in the Lord. The rejoicing in the Lord that we do is because our names are written in heaven. It's based on the fact of what Christ has done. I did not have to tell Jackson to run around in our front yard rejoicing when the Lions got into the playoffs and won their division. I didn't have to convince him and it wasn't a moralistic duty of Jackson. As Christians, we rejoice because of something true that happened to each one of us. When we forget about it, we lose our joy. We need to be reminded again. When you come here and sit under the preaching of the Word of God, that's what you're supposed to be getting. Come here expecting by faith to have your faith strengthened. Don't come here as a moralistic duty. Come here to be fed by the Lord Jesus. Christ died for your sins and he rose from the dead and he's coming again to get you. He is alive right now. and our brother is with him. We've been purchased, we've been made citizens of an eternal city. Imagine a city that doesn't crumble. I was just thinking about Detroit the other day. Our own city is like this but Detroit is an outstanding example of this. It was once referred to as the Paris of the West. There's a famous street called Brush Park in Detroit, where all the rich people lived, and architects came from all over and designed these amazing houses. Look it up online. It's amazing what they built. Within a hundred years, most of them were gone. They had crumbled to nothing. The city of Detroit itself used to be one of the jewels of the Midwest. There are buildings in Detroit that are just breathtaking even as they crumble. A lot of those buildings have been demolished and made into parking lots within 100 years. They even had a good football team. I'm joking. They do again. They do again. The city that we are going to in heaven is never going to crumble. Never. There's never going to be A huge bulldozer that comes along and knocks it down, nothing can touch it, it can't fade, it cannot corrode. It is not built with human hands, it is built by the Lord of glory and it will not fade. Rejoice not, the spirits are subject to you the Lord says but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Euodia and Syntyche were having a dispute about something. We don't know what it was, but I'm going to try to narrow it down a little bit. I don't think it was about any serious doctrinal issue, or Paul would have corrected them. He does that all over his epistles. He doesn't correct their doctrine. He also entreats them to agree in the Lord. What does it mean to agree in the Lord? Does it mean you have to leave your brain at the door and just agree on everything? There are many things that Christians can disagree about without ripping each other's heads off, okay? We can disagree on things while accepting one another in the Lord. Romans 14.1 says, as for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him. But not to quarrel over opinions. The example in Romans 14 is over foods. Now we know that in Christ we are allowed to eat all things but some people don't feel that way. We can disagree about that but we must accept one another in Christ. We must not exclude one another. We must accept them as the Lord does. We also must be aware of having an unhealthy craving for controversies. If you go online, this is what you see everywhere. An unhealthy craving for controversies, as Paul warned in 1 Timothy 6. Instead, in light of our citizenship in heaven, where we are accepted in the beloved, be at peace among yourselves. Be at peace. In chapter two, He had said, Romans 12, 16 through 19. What is haughtiness? It's when you have an opinion about something and you look at someone else and you go, I can't believe he thinks that. I can't believe he does that. Who would do that? That's haughtiness. God hates haughtiness. But associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil. But give thought to what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, It may not be possible to be at peace with someone if they won't be at peace with you. But as much as it is in your power, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves. What does that look like usually with Christians, avenging ourselves? It looks like gossip. I'm gonna take vengeance on that person by talking about them. I'm mad at them, I don't like what they're doing, I'm gonna talk about them. I'm gonna get this burden off my mind. But all you're doing is tearing down the people that God has accepted. Be at peace with one another. Leave wrath to God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. When we take vengeance on someone else, we are putting ourself in the place of God. We are not God. We must trust him. Accept one another. I beg with you, do not ignore this command. If you are in Christ, your name is written in heaven. Let your gentleness be known to all. And I ask you, are you known for harshness when you speak with people? Is that what you're known for? The Lord is saying, let your gentleness be known to all. This too is not a moralistic command, it's based in the fact that our names are written in heaven. We don't need to be harsh with anyone, let God deal with people. Let us be gracious to them as Christ is with us. We are called to be ambassadors. We're calling the world to be reconciled to God in our preaching. We proclaim this. How can we proclaim the gospel if we will not be reconciled with one another? It's hypocrisy. and it tempts many people to reject Christ. It's usually number one on the list when people say why they left Christianity. Now we know that if someone has saving faith, they will not ultimately turn away, but let's not give them any reason. Let's not put a stumbling block in front of anyone. Instead of taking sides in their disagreement, Paul addresses, in my opinion, the root cause. Do not be anxious about anything. Psalm 37 8 says, Do not fret. It only causes harm. I know that in our family when I think about all the times that we went wrong it's when we were anxious, when we fretted, There are many reasons why arguments arise in a family. One of the most common triggers of all, especially in our family, I know, is when we're overcome with anxiety. We start imagining all the things that are going to happen and we start biting and devouring each other over it. We're late to work, late to school, late to church. and begin to imagine the judgment of others. It might not even happen. We're imagining that it might happen and we start to devour each other. Anxiety turns into angry words flying out of our mouths like flaming darts. James 3.6 says the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. When we're filled with fear and stress and we start to fret, Our tongue quickly sets our house ablaze. Not only our families but this church. After losing all of their kids, losing their livelihood, what did Job's wife say to him? Curse God and die. Do you think she regretted saying that? Absolutely she did. She was overcome by her anxieties and who wouldn't be? All of us are subject to this. But he says, Paul says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, make your requests known to God. He will give you the peace that you need. You're not going to get peace by shooting your darts at other people. That's not going to come that way. I hesitated to say this, but I'm going to because I think it's necessary and I think it's going to happen again. One type of thing that often gets between Christians is politics. Even when we agree on the basics, we might disagree on how to solve the problem. COVID is a perfect example. I'm not going to get into all the details of it. Believers disagreed strongly on both sides. It was an issue that both sides, maybe even three sides, I don't know, all had strong opinions on how to solve the problem and what we ought to do. Many, many people left churches. Churches were split, churches folded. I have an old friend that pastored for 25 years. and now is no longer in the ministry because of the angry nasty things that were said to him. I hesitated to bring it up but I thought I think it's necessary and I think we know it'll probably happen again. We need to be on guard that we are being purposeful and being at peace with one another even if we disagree. Let's have conversations in peace. Let's be a testimony to the world that's watching. They're not able to do this but in Christ by the Spirit we have the power to do this. Uncontrolled tongues have set many houses of worship ablaze. What is the Lord's will for us? Be reconciled to one another. Agree in the Lord. He's saying do not divide over disputable things and do not be quarrelsome. I have strong opinions about that stuff. If I were to go around blasting each one of you for disagreeing with me what would you think of me? The elders would rightly kick me off the board. The Lord has accepted the mask wearer and the non-mask wearer. the Lord has accepted them. We ought also to accept one another, brothers and sisters. Let us not be known for harshness. Let our gentleness be known to all. 2 Timothy 2, 24. The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to everyone, able to teach patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness, That's what the Lord's will is. If we have to correct someone, we have to do it with gentleness. If we must speak gently and patiently to people doing evil things, as it says in 2 Timothy, how much more should we speak with gentleness when we disagree on disputable things? Brothers and sisters, the whole world is on fire right now. They don't know what to do. In Christ, we know what to do. We have the Spirit within us. And if we have the Spirit within us, we have comfort and assurance that we belong to him. Let's walk in the Spirit if we have life by the Spirit. If we live according to the Spirit, let us walk according to the Spirit. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. This is why it's a testimony to the world. It makes no sense. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The Lord is near. His nearness does not mean that he will keep us from trouble. Can you think of a single person in the Bible that had no trouble in his life? If anything, if you think of anyone in the Bible, you think of all the trouble they had. Think of Abraham. Abraham was overcome by anxieties. What did he do when he thought Pharaoh was going to take his wife? He lied to him. He did the same thing to the Philistine king. And then, even though God told him he was going to have offspring, he panicked and took matters into his own hands. The disciples too, when they were in the storm, they started panicking. They saw Jesus laying there sound asleep. This is what we do. Lord, don't you see what's happening? Don't you care? Of course he cares. He is the one that sent the storm. He is in control of it. He looks like he's sleeping but he is not sleeping. He's not like us. Yes he took on human form as a man but he's God. He's the living God. He does care. Anxiety tempted the disciples to not trust the Lord. And I think that's probably what was happening between these two ladies, I don't know for sure. But he does tell them to take their anxieties to the Lord. The Lord awoke and rebuked the wind and the sea and it obeyed him. Do you know when it also obeyed him? When it became a storm. The storm obeyed him both times. He is the Lord of the storm. He is the Lord of our peace. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord will deliver us out of them all. I saw Wilson on Thursday. He looked bad. He was really suffering. But where is Wilson now? He is in glory. He's beholding the Savior's face. You wouldn't want to come back here. But we will go to him. We will go and see the Lord's face ourselves. The Lord is preparing us through all these things we suffer. He's preparing us for that eternal city that is never going to fade away. He's working in us by his mighty power what is pleasing in his sight. I don't like going through trials either. I really don't. But I know I have that hope within me that the Lord is working within me what is pleasing in his sight. I'll ask you does it give you comfort that the Lord is near? It ought to come for you. He means it to comfort you. He's not in a distant country. He's near. He's not the divine clockmaker that just wound up the clock and then went off to do his own thing. He is near. Behold, I am with you always, he said, even unto the end of the age, Matthew 28 20. He has torn the veil in the temple himself. He has broken down the wall that was between us. Not only is he near, he's within us. Christ in you, the hope of glory. What does that mean? When you see Christ working in you, you can have hope that you will be in glory. That's what it means. The resurrection, our hope, his presence reminds us of our destination. Our destination is not downtown Detroit in a crumbling building or buried in a graveyard somewhere. Yes, all of us are going to die unless the Lord comes, but we will be raised to newness of life. I don't want to be in this body forever. We're going to get a new body, a new body that's incorruptible and unfading. His nearness motivates us to be like him. If you have any participation in the Spirit, make my joy complete, being of one mind. participation in the spirit is, it's the foundation we stand on. And the book of Philemon talks about a converted slave and Paul exhorts him to go back to his master. I'm not going to commentate on slavery. But Philemon, I'm sorry, Onesimus was the slave, not Philemon. Philemon was the owner. Paul was sending him back. as a brother. Onesimus had been converted, and he was willing to set aside his own desires to submit himself and go back. Paul entreats Philemon, no longer treat him as a slave, but treat him as a brother. We are to set aside our rights, what we think we deserve, as Christ did. According to church tradition, Onesimus ultimately became the bishop of Ephesus. So even though he set aside what he thought his earthly rights, the Lord blessed him. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy, being of the same mind, being of the same love, I'm sorry, I'm in chapter two. I'm going to skip down a little bit, verse six. Speaking of Christ, Jesus Christ, who, when he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name So that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow What is he saying here? In the kingdom of God, the person that puts himself last will be first. Christ is our example. Christ emptied himself becoming a man, dying for our sins on the cross. God the Father exalted him. So now he is a name above every name. If you give up what your earthly rights, what you think you deserve, what is God going to do? He will exalt you. He will lift you up. He will give you peace. He will give you joy. But if you insist on your own way, Especially if you were a believer and you insist on your own way, you are going to be one miserable Christian because the Holy Spirit does not like that. But even if you're an unbeliever today, I call you, I exhort you to trust in the Lord Jesus. You will not have joy without him. Any joy in this world that you have is fleeting. It is momentary and you will find yourself in a lost eternity without Christ and I plead with you to trust in him today before it is too late. Brothers and sisters, our names are written in heaven. Humble yourself. Trust in him. You are a citizen of a city made without hands. That is where your journey ends. Therefore, Rejoice always in him. Let your gentleness be known to all. The Lord is near. Your inheritance awaits. I'm nervous about the money I'm saving right now in my inheritance. I have an inheritance in heaven that is eternal. It will never fade away. Do not fear government encroachments on your liberties. Do not fear a loss of your job. Do not fear a loss of your home, your family, or your friends for the sake of Christ. If you have trusted Christ, all of these things will be repaid to you a thousand times, and then some, in the life to come. Matthew 10 39 says, the one who has found his life will lose it. The one who has lost his life on my account will find it. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything. Let your requests be made known to God. The peace that passes understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This weary life that is filled with sorrows and pain is soon going to give way to glory. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we look forward to, what is true, because Christ has risen. We know that our inheritance is sure in heaven. And we also have Christ who is near, who will never leave us or forsake us. Lord, we pray that this hope would strengthen us, give us confidence in Christ, that we might not take vengeance on one another, that we might not speak with harshness, but that we might be gentle with one another. We thank you, Lord, for all you've accomplished for us. We praise your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.