Philippians 1, 1 through 11. Again, give ear, for this is the word of the Lord to you, his people. Paul and Timothy, slaves 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 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 all with the affection of Christ Jesus. It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our Lord will stand forever. You may be seated. Our exalted father, so often we pursue our own desires instead of your will. We ask that you would convict us of that with your word this morning, for we know that it is the standard for our lives. We praise and we honor you for the sacrificial example of your son, Jesus Christ and his apostles. We pray in his name and by his spirit, amen. Business partnerships have given us some of the most amazing things in our modern world. Back in 1837, William Proctor and James Gamble started a soap and candle company in Cincinnati. And now today, 183 years later, every bathroom and every hall closet in America likely has at least one product made by Proctor and Gamble. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniacki developed the Apple II as the first user-friendly home computer. And now Apple is the world's largest technology company. And most importantly, after Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield took a course in ice cream making from Penn State, Ben and Jerry's ice cream was born. Now in each of these, the partnership between the founders was essential to the success of the company. Procter and Gamble actually married sisters and their father-in-law would only invest in their business if they worked together. And without Steve Wozniacki's technical ability and Steve Jobs' business sense, Apple would never have gotten off the ground. And while the motivation to start their first ice cream shop came from Jerry's failure to get into med school, It was actually Ben's complete lack of any sense of taste or smell that led to the signature texture of those big chunks of chocolate and fruit in Ben and Jerry's. Now, based on the opening words of Philippians that we just read, I think we should add Paul and the Philippian church to this great long list of partnerships. Throughout this letter, Paul makes it clear that he could not have continued his mission without their support. Paul's zeal and the Philippians' backing not only led to churches being planted all over Greece, but also to this great letter of encouragement to the entire church. When we work together in ministry, the gospel is spread, we grow closer to each other and closer to Christ. Gospel partnership grows the church and strengthens our affections. Now, as we get to the beginning of a New Testament letter, we always kind of maybe chop off the beginning and the end. Those are just the introduction and the conclusion. We kind of explain things away. This is the normal way ancient people would introduce a letter and then we kind of dismiss them. But when we do that, we actually miss some really serious teaching and some deep practical insight that the Lord has for us. We need to remember in his word, God does not waste any words. The opening of Philippians here actually will take what we expect about partnerships and turn it on its head. Philippi was a colony of the city of Rome. This kind of made them almost like a cultural clone. Think of what today may be in New York City or in other big places where you have a Chinatown or a Little Italy, where there's a small section that is very much like the home country. It was natural then for the Philippians to mimic Roman power structures. But what does Paul say in verse 1? Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. So did you catch that? Paul and Timothy, this is the apostle and his right-hand man, and he identifies themselves as slaves. Now, in the ancient world, slavery wasn't racial like it was in the American South, but it was still a very negative thing. You were actually still owned and controlled by someone else. They determined what your identity was. Now, the people here with the most authority, Paul and Timothy, placed themselves in the lowest position as slaves. The congregation, on the other hand, are described as saints in Christ Jesus. And that word saints really just means holy ones. I know it's taken on some different connotations throughout church history, especially from the Roman Catholic Church, but in the scriptures, saints literally just means those who have been made holy. This is a term that's used over and over again in the Old Testament for Israel. So what Paul is saying here is that Philippians, you are the true people of God. And then did you notice that mention right at the end of the overseers and the deacons? I think most of us know who deacons are, but that term overseers is just a synonym in the New Testament for elders. And they're described here as being with or alongside the congregation. Not over them, not domineering, not acting in a coercive way trying to enforce their will. We see again, over and over, that church authority is a work of service. It's a work of sacrifice. In the church, there is only one king. The only sovereign in the church is Jesus Christ. Every other leader is a servant. Now this slave identity, that position is always defined by the master. Paul and Timothy say they are slaves of Christ Jesus. Now being a slave to Jesus or being a slave to God is not a new idea. It was throughout the Old Testament. Joshua, David, the prophets, they were all described as slaves of God. But most of all, Jesus is described as a slave in this letter. Just look over really quickly at chapter two, verse seven with me. Here, speaking of our Lord, it says, he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. Christian leadership is always an act of humiliation, but in Christ, humiliation is always the path to exaltation. And this partnership is not only then between Paul and the Philippians, look at verse two. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is sending God and Christ's grace and peace to the Philippians. So what we actually have here is a three-way partnership. God, Paul, and Philippi. And Paul actually makes it clear here that he knows he is speaking for God when he sends this letter to the Philippians. He's not just sending a greeting. He's not just saying simply, hello, peace to you, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. These words that he is sending to the Philippians are a conduit of God's grace. If they were to receive his instruction, This letter will be an instrument of peace in their lives. And as they obey what he says, they will be bringing God's grace and peace to them. This letter, and really all of scripture, is a means of grace and peace. Not just to the Philippians, but to us as well. As we read it and as we obey it, God's grace and his peace are revealed to us. So we can join with Jesus and Paul and the Philippians in this partnership as we receive this letter. Now that position that Philippi was in as a colony, I think that sounds a lot like pretty much all of America today. Every city is kind of a cultural clone for better or for worse. New York City really controls the national financial markets. Los Angeles has a steering effect on pretty much all of common popular culture in the arts. And DC really consolidates more political power every year. So that really gives us the same choice as the Philippians. Will we mimic the world's power structure or will we embrace humility? Will we seek authority so that we can impose our desires and look for dominant positions over other people? Or will we consider status and privilege as a chance to give and to serve more and more? Now, service in this Christ-like way is not a means to power. Service is power. We don't climb the ladder of sacrifice and then kick it out from underneath us once we get to the top. This is not a humble way to reach the top of the business world and then act like a worldly tyrant. No, the essence of power is kind modesty. And true influence is actual gentle leadership. This is absolutely counterintuitive and opposite to everything that the world tells us. But in Christ, the way up is to go down. So that means that the first step in our gospel partnership is to follow Paul and even more to follow Christ and to become a slave. Do you want to be respected in your role as a husband and as a father? Well, Obey your master. Go the extra mile in sacrificing in love for your wife and in modeling repentance and forgiveness to your children. Do you want to spark a revival in your neighborhood or maybe in your workplace? Well, then follow your Lord. Befriend the community outcast and seek and serve people who have no chance of advancing your career. Do you aspire to use your gifts to bless the church? Well, imitate your king. Empty yourself of any prestige and any stature and give everything that you have when no one's looking. God grows his kingdom through the sacrificial partnership of meek slaves. That three-way partnership comes up again in verse three. I thank my God in my remembrance of you. Paul gives thanks to God for the Philippians. Again, three partners. And even what he prays here confirms this. The ESV has, I thank my God. in all my remembrance of you. If anybody has a Christian standard Bible, you'll see that there's a note there that actually says, for your remembrance of me. So what's actually happening? Is Paul thanking God for his remembrance, his prayers for them, or for their prayers for him? Is Paul praying for the Philippians or the Philippians praying for Paul? Well, I think when Paul's writing this, it's intentionally ambiguous. The text actually means both. Their partnership runs so deep, it actually forms the way he wrote the text. Paul and the Philippians' prayers are so intertwined, he can't even tell them apart. And I wonder if you picked up while I was doing the reading about the extent of their partnership in verses three through four. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy. And actually, you can hear it even more. This time, all those U's are actually plural U's, so I'll bring that out. Again, I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you all, always, in every prayer of mine, for all of you all, making every prayer with joy. The entire church is included in Paul's prayers, and he is constantly in theirs. Over and over again, there's this back and forth partnership. So why is Paul so passionate about this prayer and the Philippians so passionate in their prayer for him? Again, because they are partners in the gospel. Look at verse five. because of your partnership in the gospel from this day, from the first day until now. Now, I love that the ESV uses partnership there as the translation for this word. Sometimes, some translations will have the word fellowship, and I think that's a fine translation, but kind of in our common use today, that term has changed. When we think about fellowship, we think about coffee and donuts and small talk and just kind of sitting around. shooting the breeze. And all of those things are good and as Christians we need to be doing more of them, spending more time together. But that's not what the Bible means by fellowship or partnership. Partnership is far more than that. It's co-laboring for the kingdom. Partnership is a mutual sacrifice for a shared goal and a purpose. Now, in the ancient world, it was often used in a business context, and the Philippians actually were a great financial supporter of Paul. Look over, if you would, verses, or chapter four, verses 15 and 16. Paul says, and you Philippians, yourselves, know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only. Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs again and again. And later on, Paul will actually boast about how generous the Philippians were to the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians, he says, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. Now today, we kind of use this idea of partnership mostly with attorneys or with business firms. So maybe instead of the law office of Williams and Jones, we could say this is the gospel firm of Paul and the Philippians. And remember, this is a three-way partnership though. Jesus himself is the driving force. Verse six, 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. What is that good work that God began and he will complete? I think it's the gospel partnership of Paul and the Philippians. But now we see that Jesus is the one who is pushing it forward. Christ is the senior partner in their firm. And he started it with his life and death and resurrection and ascension. And he guarantees its completion upon his return. So Paul is thankful. He and the Philippians are now included in Jesus's work to save his people through the gospel. They get to partner with Christ himself to spread the gospel to all the nations. Now you could see here for a minute, the Philippians reading these first opening letters and they're starting to object. They're actually very humble. They're downplaying the contribution that they've made, but Paul will have none of that. Look at verse seven. It is right for me to feel this way about you 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. The Philippians, Paul says, are equal partners with Paul because of their mutual affection for each other. We have another one of those intentionally ambiguous phrases here. The ESV says, I hold you in my heart. The new revised standard version says, you hold me in your heart. Again, Paul means that original double meaning. He's doing this on purpose. This is actually both. They hold each other in their hearts. Paul and the Philippians and the Philippians and Paul. This mutual love and this affection for each other means that they share, the Philippians share in Paul's experience. He says, you are all partakers with me of grace. And that's actually the same word that was used before for partnership with Paul. They are literally partners with him. But what is that grace he says that they share? They are partakers, they're partners together in this grace. Look at the second half of verse seven again. 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 the confirmation of the gospel." So they are in prison with Paul. They are with him there as he's preaching. The affection and the gospel partnership that Paul and the Philippians share is so real that there's a real sense that they are there in prison with him and that they are there standing right next to him every time he goes to a new city to preach the gospel. And that's not even the craziest part. What's most absurd is that Paul calls this Grace, he says, this is a gift from God. How can that be? How can being in prison be a gift from God? Well, they are all now in that low, humble, slave-like position with Paul. They have all been brought to the position where they share that slave nature with Christ. And this is how they know that Christ will complete their partnership. They know because they have gone to the same place that Jesus went to save us. That's why it's grace. They are sharing in Christ. Our common suffering for Christ is the confirmation of the gospel's victory and of our perseverance in it. That three-way partnership appears one more time in verse eight. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. Again, God witnesses, Paul yearns for the Philippians. But there's another layer there. Did you catch how Paul is yearning? He yearns with the affection of Christ Jesus. I think it's kind of a weird way to say it. What is Paul trying to get at? He desires not to have his own love for the Philippians, but he wants to have Christ's affections for them. So when we collaborate with each other in the gospel, we actually experience Jesus's own emotion of love for his people. So if you've ever wanted to know just a little bit what it's like to be Jesus, or you've ever wanted to share in Jesus's personal affection for his people, there's an easy way to do that. Join him and his church in a gospel partnership. So what does that look like? What does a gospel partnership here at Living Water look like? We have no apostle to support. Is that just giving tithes and offerings so you can pay the pastor or fund the diaconal ministry? Or that we can send money to the denomination in our presbytery to plant new churches in Dayton or send missionaries to Uganda? Yes, that's part of it. But that's not all of it. There's much more. Here's a couple of past examples that we've seen or that we're seeing right now that we've received or that we've been part of in our congregation of real gospel partnerships. Remember the affection that Covenant had for us and for the desire to see the gospel expand here in Springfield and the gift of $30,000 that they gave us to help us buy this building. That is a true gospel partnership. and you yourselves as a church. Now for me, my first priority is to minister to you. But you all care about the ministry of other churches in our areas enough that you allow me to go and preach on Sunday evenings at Redeemer until their new pastor comes. And you allow me to miss Sundays over the summer so I can go and visit and help out other churches in our presbytery. And you even allow me to go throughout the week and help prepare the interns in our area for their future ministries. On your behalf, that is real gospel partnership. But what about some opportunities that we have right now or maybe in the near future for gospel partnership? Well, even just this week, cleaning and preparing the home for the Jacksons to support our missionaries as they come home and to give them a safe and a nice place to stay while they're taking a break. That is real gospel partnership. Another way, and maybe a little more difficult, is our whole congregation committing together that anytime we see a beggar on the side of the highway on 68, we invite him to lunch, we talk with him, and then we invite him to become part of our community. not just allowing the Hispanic church to use our building, but expanding that relationship with them, trying everything we can to get to know them, and even making financial sacrifices to reach the immigrants in our city. And maybe it means eventually even calling and supporting a man to reach and to preach amongst the Spanish speaking population here in Springfield. Spending more time together and becoming better friends and sharing our interests is essential to the growth of our church. But that's only the first step. Gospel partnership is the most powerful means for creating and sustaining joyful and affectionate relationships in the church. Now, partners, especially in a business, are not consumers. They serve the company, not themselves. They benefit from the company's growing stake and its business success. So is there any investment growth for us when we partner with Christ? Look at verse nine. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment. We have another prayer. First, Paul thanked God for their partnership. Now he is asking God that their love might grow. And he says he wants it to grow with knowledge and discernment. This is a deep love. The Philippians are growing in their investment. This is not some sort of sentimental or uninformed involvement. It's not just money that Paul is asking for. He's not saying, pass the plate again, Philippians. No, he genuinely wants their input. He genuinely wants their partnership in his ministry. And long-term investment leads to compound growth, more and more. Look at the first part of verse 10. So that you may approve what is excellent. If you've gotten lost here, let's take a step back then and see how this partnership leads, see how the investment here traces to get us to where we're at. Verses three through eight, we just said, were the gospel partnership leading to loving like Jesus. As you partner for the gospel, you end up loving like Jesus. Then in verse nine, there's a business stake that grows as your love in that partnership deepens. And then here in verse 10, the effect of that deeper love is the ability to approve what is excellent, to understand what really matters, or to learn to love appropriately. You become better partners the more and more that you invest. When we put it all together, the gospel partnership changes our lives now. You get to feel Jesus's love for others. And then that love grows in understanding. And then that understanding changes your priorities. The gospel partnership produces a better, a more Christ-like, a more righteous and holy love in each one of us. But there's also an eternal return on investment. And it's even more glorious. The gospel partnership just keeps on giving. Look at the second half of verse 10. so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. The love and the knowledge and the discernment create purity and blamelessness when Jesus returns. That growth in love is not just changing your understanding and your priorities, it's actually changing you from the inside out. As you partner with Christ, you become more and more like him. To be pure and to be blameless is to be like Jesus. Those internal changes actually then produce good works in verse 11, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Paul uses that metaphor that we see over and over in the Bible of good works as fruit. We could say maybe that sharing Christ's love and partnering with him has made the Philippians a good tree. And now that they are good trees, they also produce good fruit. Think about the Philippians, almost like an apple orchard, where their branches are bending low because they're weighed down with righteous fruit that came from partnering with Christ. And even that though, is not the end. The final goal of gospel partnership comes in that last phrase of verse 11, to the glory and praise of God. From the beginning, To the end, Paul and the Philippians' participation in the gospel is actually a work of God. He began it, he said, and he will bring it to completion. And his glory is the ultimate purpose of every gospel partnership. So if that's true, if all of this is just a work of God, Why is Paul praying so much? In verse three, he says he prays over and over. He even prays again in the middle of the passage in verse nine. The entire passage is actually framed by a prayer. Have you ever wondered, if God is doing all of these things anyway, why should I pray? I think that's actually a reasonable and a natural question for many of us. So first, let's notice that each section started with a prayer, but then ends with God accomplishing his will. Paul prays for the partnership with the Philippians, and then God assures its completion at the day of Christ. Paul prays for their love to abound, and then that ends with gospel fruit and God's glory and praise. Prayer is the means of God accomplishing His will. Prayer is another way that we partner with God. This whole passage is Paul praying and asking God, Lord, display your glory through your partnership with me and the Philippians so that then we can praise and honor you for doing it. So why do we pray for what God is already doing? Because our prayers are God's tools to accomplish his plan. So if prayer is a way of partnership, I think prayer should also shape our priorities. Our prayers are often dominated by personal requests. But as we look at the Bible, their prayers are overflowing with praise and thanksgiving. Notice what Paul prayed for here. He was thanking and praising God for the Philippians' effective ministry. And even his requests are gospel-focused. Remember, he's sitting in prison at this time, and the first thing that comes to his mind, the thing at the top of his prayer list, is asking for his ministry partners to grow in their love. I wonder for any of us during the lockdown, did we pray more for the virus to end and for us to be free? Or did we ask God and thank him for our gospel partners that we have in our church? And ask him for ways to grow that partnership, even during a pandemic. So while we're following Paul's example of gospel partnership, let's also embrace his model of prayer as a way to grow that partnership. Now that does not mean that we neglect our sick cousin or the out of work neighbor. But what it means is that we include them in a more biblical form of prayer. One that starts with praising God. One that continues throughout to prioritize our growth in Christ. And one that ends with a zeal and a passion for his glory. Now I for one am thankful that Proctor and Gamble made their partnership work. I love my head and shoulders. And I couldn't make it through the winter without Vic's vapor rub. And I'm grateful for Steve Jobs and Wozniacki, too. I might not have a smartphone, but I am a Mac user till death. And who doesn't think the world is a better place because of flavors like Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey? But when we see gospel partnerships grow the church and strengthen our affections, then we will join Paul and we will thank God every time we remember our gospel partners. And we will ask him that their love may abound more and more. Let's pray. Father, you are so good to us. You have poured out your love and your grace and your mercy in your son. And you have given us your spirit to confirm and to seal his work. Lord, we ask that you would continue to partner with us. It's none of our work that is effective, but only through your word and through your spirit. We thank you for including us in your work to save the world. Lord, we ask that as we come and as we commune with you at the table, that that would be sealed to our hearts. In your son's name we pray.