Paul's letter to the Philippians. And this morning we'll be focusing on verses 12 to 24, and then I'll highlight two particular verses within this passage. Philippians chapter one, beginning verse 12. Children, here are your questions for this morning. First, how do Christians have joy and peace in this life? Two, how will being with Jesus be even better after this life? Three, what is the only way to have our sins forgiven and be made right with God? Two, how is truly living for Jesus different than just saying we believe in him? Philippians 1, beginning in verse 12, this is the word of God. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life, or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose, I cannot tell. I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you. I want to emphasize verses 21 and 22. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose? I cannot tell. There ends a reading of God's word. Let's pray together. Lord our God, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you for these wonderfully assuring words that you give to us from your apostle, but we know directly from you as this is your holy word. And as we examine this passage together, and as we consider the blessings that you give in Christ the Lord, we pray that you administer to us through the preaching of your word. And so we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to help us, to help the preacher, And to help all of us who are here this morning, may we truly hear from you. And we come to you in the name of our Savior, Jesus. Amen. Well, we Christians are peculiar people. According to the Bible, Christians are peculiar people, at least according to Old English translations. Here is a couple of passages that use the word, and the passages I'll read are in Old English, so please bear with me. I'm not used to reading this way, but here are these words from the Word of God. This is Deuteronomy 14, 2, speaking to the Old Testament people of God. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. And the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth. Paul writes this in his letter to Titus, through the Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. And then Peter writes, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." You are peculiar people, but not peculiar in the sense that we use it. Not that we're weird or odd or quirky, etc. We might be that. Some of us might be that. But it's not the way we think of peculiar. We think of different. We think of set aside. That's the sense here. set apart from the world, marked as gods, with a different mindset, a different perspective, because of our relationship with Christ. Different from the mindset of the world. This morning, I want to highlight two huge categories that Paul addresses. The two biggest things we can think of, actually, how we are different, how we're peculiar, in two ways, two inseparable ways. One, in our view of life, And two, in our view of death, I say inseparable because what takes place in this life has everything to do with the next. So I want to remind you believers how peculiar you are in case you've forgotten you have a reason for being peculiar and you can actually take joy in that. But I also want to explain to any unbelievers why we're so peculiar. I preach this sermon on the Boardwalk Chapel, which faces a boardwalk with many people going by, and the hope is that unbelievers will come into the chapel and hear the gospel. And I recognize that most of the people that were in there profess Christ and know Christ, so they needed to be reminded how peculiar they are in Christ. But if anyone came in off the boardwalk and wondered why these people were holding a worship service in a vacation spot on a pretty wild boardwalk called Wildwood, I would want to explain to them why we are peculiar, and especially in these two particular areas. It all has to do with being made right with God through Jesus Christ. Christians live for someone they cannot see. Not only do we not live for ourselves, we live for someone we cannot see, the Lord Jesus Christ, who walked the earth but is now reigning in heaven. But Christians also have a great confidence about what happens in the next life that people of the world who don't know Christ simply cannot have. Simply cannot have. We live for the Lord. We die in the Lord. back up and think of Paul's unique experience. Just a refresher, I know most of you know the Apostle Paul's story. He was a Jewish leader. He had authority to go and rescue, as it were, Jewish people who had become Christians, and he would snatch them and have them snatched by others, bring them back, imprisoning some in Jerusalem, and actually having some executed. You know he stood and witnessed the stoning of Stephen. But you also know that while he was on his journey, he got stopped in his tracks by the Christ that we cannot see in heaven, stopped in his tracks. Paul recognized right away that he was the Lord. But who are you, Lord? Jesus makes it clear that it is he. It is Jesus. It is him. Paul's life radically changes. And he's called to preach the gospel, and then the tables turn on him. Because as a preacher of the gospel, he faces tremendous persecution every day. He is beaten. He is rejected by his people. He has to escape many times. He faces all kinds of trials. Currently, as he's writing, he's in prison. And as he says elsewhere, he faces death every day. But Paul could look at his life and say, for me to live is Christ. While I'm on the face of this earth, I am here to serve Christ. And while I live here, I will be productive for Christ. There's value to my life here. And with the many things that he could do, the ultimate thing is that he's living for Christ. But then, then to die is even better, to go and be with Christ. It can't get, it really literally can't get any better. And that perspective that the Apostle Paul has is the perspective that every single Christian can have or should have, I hope does have. Could impact each thing much more obviously. But I want to mention some things that at least should be true about peculiar people like us called Christians. Highlight a couple of things. First of all, the unique disposition we have. Secondly, the fact that we've had a humbling realization about ourselves, but that we can also have a sure confidence that this life is good, and the next life is even better. First of all, our unique disposition. It might seem like a contradiction because we have joy. We have joy, a deep abiding joy in Christ, but it's not complete, so we're not completely satisfied as we live in this world. First of all, we have this inexpressible joy. Joy is the opposite of misery, the misery of unbelief, the misery of a soul under wrath, the misery of a soul under the burden of sin. Joy is the opposite of that. We can describe joy this way, that it's a deep-seated contentment because we're right with God. Something so deep, much deeper and much higher than any form of happiness could ever bring us. But as Peter says, and I'd like you to turn there to 1 Peter 1, it's so good that we can't fully put it into words. We can't really articulate that deep depth of satisfaction that we have with the Lord. This is 1 Peter 1, beginning verse 3, and you'll notice that it's in the context, as was Paul's, of the trials and the struggles of life here on earth in light of belonging to Christ. 1 Peter 1, beginning in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. What a wonderful promise, what a wonderful truth that is about true believers, this inexpressible joy. It's something too good to describe. And joy is something that isn't taken away. Amazing thing about joy is that we can experience that and own it in good times in life when things are going smoothly, but that joy isn't taken away even through the struggles. Think about what Paul went through, all the trials he went through. There's no evidence that he once lost the joy of the Lord. I'm sure he wasn't always happy with his circumstances. I'm sure he had disappointments in life. But he had the joy of the Lord even in the face of trials and punishment, even facing death every day. A constant. Bad times and good times. But joy is not something that's delusional. Joy is not Pollyanna. Everything's good all the time. That's not what joy is about. Joy is not it's all good. Joy is not, I'm ashamed to quote the movie Legos, the guy, Lego guy goes around singing, everything, everything is awesome. He soon finds out that everything is not awesome because there are bad guys, but everything is not awesome. We understand that. We understand that things are not complete. We understand that we live in the context of sin. And what should probably disturb us the most is that we still live in the context of our own sin, and in the context of everybody else's sin, and in the context of a world that is under the reign of sin. That should disturb us, and we know that that's not the end. It's not complete. And so we have this unfulfilled bliss This joy that is fully there, but not fully complete. Unfulfilled bliss. Because we know that we have not yet seen the face of Jesus. But we will. We'll see the face of Jesus when we die. We know that sin will be done. We know that this is not the way it should be or the way it will be. We know that we'll see the face of Jesus and we'll see that sin will be done. We'll finally be relieved and delivered from our own sin. Completely. Been forgiven now in Christ. But you look at yourself, I look at myself and I recognize I am far from sanctified. That will come. made perfect in the presence of Christ, our sin gone, and the sins of everybody else gone, everybody else that we'll be with, and then everything that sets itself up against God, everything that rebels against God will be destroyed forever. It simply can't get better than that. But how in the world Do Christians have joy now and this wonderful anticipation of things to come, facing even death without fear? Well, if it was based on us, if it was based on anything we've done, we certainly wouldn't have any grounds for it. But believers understand. They've had to have a humbling realization that we have sinned with everyone else and fall short of the glory of God. And in my humble opinion, each one of us needs to say, Jesus Christ came to die for sinners, to save sinners, among whom I am the chief. And I, as an unworthy sinner by nature and a sinner by action, were it not for the mercy of God, I would be entirely unfit for his presence, to be in his presence. not only unworthy because I'm a sinner, but I'm unable because everything, all my best efforts fail because everything I do is tainted with sin and God cannot be in the presence of sin. It's interesting to me that one of the top things that Paul mentions among things that can rob a Christian of their joy is when they fall back into a works righteousness, into trying to achieve God's favor by works. It will only frustrate the soul. There can be no joy if we have to work to win our salvation. We turn to an incomparable Christ. In God's mercy for the Christian, we've been made to see our unworthiness and our inability, and we're shown the incomparable Christ. We recognize our misery, we see our need for a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus. Second person of the Trinity, taking on human flesh, that mystery of the Trinity, the second person, and the counsel of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit coming to earth in our flesh in order to pay for the sins of all who will believe. So Jesus came to earth and he obeyed perfectly all the commandments we couldn't keep, offered himself as a sacrifice for sin on the cross, conquered death, rose up from the dead and ascended to the right hand of glory, and he shares that victory with us. He conquered sin. He conquered death. He conquered the devil. And on the cross, he served as our substitute when we deserve to bear the wrath of God. And in rising from the dead, he secured life now and life eternal for all who believe. He's satisfied for us. Everything that was lacking for us in this life, being separate from God, he reconciles us to God. He reunites us with our creator. And he promises his heaven to all who believe. We've come to know this by this humbling realization that we need Jesus. But having Jesus, we can have a sure confidence that this life is in his care and so is the next. No confidence in ourself, all confidence in Christ and the promises of God. Amazing grace. Totally undeserved. Love and mercy of God. Amazing grace. Freely offered in the gospel. Freely offered in the gospel. And if you're in Christ, you've heard, and you've believed, and you've repented, and you've surrendered your life to Christ, and now you live for Him so that you can say, for me to live is Christ. Everything I do is under the reign and under the lordship of Christ. Now my eyes are on him and I live for him and his kingdom." All freely offered in the preaching of the gospel, you've recognized that there's one place to turn the sure promise of salvation to all who believe. Amazing grace saving sinners like us. But there has to be that response. There has to be faith. We're saved by grace. We don't sing amazing faith, how sweet I am. We sing amazing grace, how sweet the sound, amazing grace. But by simple faith, we embrace the truth of Christ, trusting God for his promises. trusting God that he really did provide salvation through his son Jesus for all who believe. Trusting him in life, alive now, living the faith with his purpose to serve the Lord. Trusting him in death with what's on the other side. We'll all get there. But believers can have a sure confidence that we'll be with him. Ever strike you how bold some of our hymns are? I want to read to you just from a couple of hymns, two old hymns. First one, Ann Canopy. Listen to this last line again. You've probably sung it many times. This is a very bold statement. It's a very peculiar statement when most people fear death and have no idea what's going to happen afterwards. Here's what we sing rightly. No condemnation, now I dread. Jesus, and all in him is mine. Alive in him, my living head, and clothed in righteousness divine. Here it is. Bold. Bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own. Approaching the throne of God boldly. How can we do it without Christ? And then a little less familiar hymn, but a beautiful old hymn, Jesus thy blood and righteousness. Listen to these words. These are things that true Christians can openly and confidently profess. Bold shall I stand in thy great day, for who ought to my charge shall lay. Fully absolved through these I am from sin and fear, from guilt and shame. And here it is. When from the dust of death I rise to claim my mansion in the skies, in then this shall be all my plea. Jesus hath lived, hath died for me. what great confidence believers can have, what great assurance we can sing. Living for Jesus now, being with Jesus forever. Rejecting Christ now, there's no grounds for joy. Those who reject Christ are not right with God, their creator. and are agitated in their souls, whether they cover up their misery with all kinds of things, false religions, or whatever it might be, idols of life, whatever it might be, they are not able to have joy, certainly not the joy of the Lord. In this life, this life is described as misery appropriately. And in the next, there's only unimaginable grief, because they'll meet Jesus. as a judge. And he'll say, I never knew you, and be cut off for eternity. Because anyone who dies without Christ is trying to enter into the presence of a holy God as a sinner. And it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry holy God. So that's why the call of the gospel goes out repent and believe and you will be saved but for believers This life is filled with joy And the next will be filled with perfect bliss in the presence of Jesus. It will be complete Because we will see the one who lived and died for us. We can have that sure confidence that so well captured in what Paul writes in Romans 8, beginning in verse 38, and I'll read this for us, and we'll close with this. I am sure, I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers, nor height, nor depth, not anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's pray. Lord, you are so merciful and kind to unworthy and undeserving sinners like us. But in your great loving kindness, inexplicable, Love for us, you sent your son, our Lord Jesus, who willingly took upon himself our sin and paid for them by dying on the cross, bearing the wrath that we deserve, reconciling us to you, securing eternity for all who believe. We're so deeply thankful for your mercy, your love, Father, your willing sacrifice, Jesus, your life-giving work in our souls, Holy Spirit. We praise you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so we rejoice in your presence with a joy inexpressible and filled with glory. And we pray for those who have not, who do not experience this, who have not surrendered to Christ. We pray for them. May they hear the reason why we're so peculiar and envy so much a sweet relationship with you, that they would repent and believe and be reconciled to you through Christ. And we pray this in the name of our Savior, our Savior Jesus Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our closing hymn is hymn number 701, Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It, and we'll please stand when we sing. Following the benediction, I'll pray for our meal downstairs, and then we'll sing the doxology. Now receive the Lord's blessing. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. And Lord, now as we leave and some of us go to our...