Philippians Wrap Up

Philippians Wrap Up. Message and Q&A with Allen Browne and Luke Bates at The Red Door Community Church.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Well, again, welcometo this evening, guys.

(00:02):
I've been really looking forward to this.
Alan and I, as I mentionedbefore, have been catching up
for the last sort of seven odd
years and,
it's usually not a shortconversation, as we tackle scripture
together and just life in Christ.
And, Alan Alan's just, just through andthrough is a scholar of, of God's word.

(00:25):
Like this man has dedicated
his life,
in the pursuit of
knowing Christ,
in and through the word of
God.
And,
and he has so much wisdom, so muchmore understanding than what I have.
He, he said on Monday as wecaught up for coffee, he's, oh,
I think we should just do this.
A bit of to and fro.

(00:46):
And I said, I think what willbless the church is more to.
Unless me throwing.
And so,
I'm just so excited to hear from him.
He's
gonna sum up,
Philipp
pins for us,
to, you know, in the totalityof the letter, and he's gonna
do that in about 10, 15 minutes.

(01:06):
So yeah, watch out everyone.
It's gonna be like a fire hydrant.
But as he does that, I just want tobring to your attention, we've got a
Slido that we're gonna be using tonight.
So we're gonna spend more, mostof our time, q and Aing, and
having Alan speak into some ofyour questions around this letter.

(01:27):
And so as a QR code just there on
the screen,
that will get you to the slider.
It's open.
You'll notice that there'ssome questions there
already.
That was from some of our guysfrom Word and Way on Wednesday,
had started posting some
questions.
And,
and so then we're just gonnacontinue on with the evening.

(01:47):
Just going through some of those,some of those questions that you have
about the letter or the implications
of what,
Paul, what Paul is sayinghere to our lives today.
And so Alan, I'm gonna hand it over to
you and,
let you lead us throughthis beautiful letter.
Thank you very much, Luke.
I do feel an affiliation with thischurch, a sense of belonging together.

(02:08):
I'm still on staff at Riverview a coupleof days a week and some, some of you might
know, have heard of Riverview Church.
There's a bit of shared historyand we connect with Adam
and Dale,
half of many years.
So that's fantastic.
And Luke tells me.
You ever spent something likethe last three months in the book
of Philippians and you're allfull bottle on the whole book?

(02:29):
Is that, is that right?
Yes.
So if you've got, so any questionsleft over tonight, I'd be happy
to try to, address some of those.
I think we always still have questionslike, I grew up in church, but I still.
When I read the scriptures, I'mgoing, oh wow, look at that.
And there's always more for us to learn.
So my prayer tonight is that yourdesire to know King Jesus through

(02:54):
his word will be enriched as youshare together as a community.
And we wrap up the book of Philippians.
It's something to takehome and to live together.
Mm-hmm.
That's good.
That's good.
So you want us to dive inand summarize the book?
Go for it mate.
Alright.
It's all yours.
You've done four chapters in thebook of Philippines and just really,

(03:17):
really quickly, I think the first11 verses are all about the joy of
participating in what God is doing.
Amen.
Have they got a way to put someof these things up on screen?
Fantastic.
So Philippians one is actuallysharing the joy of suffering together.
The joy and the sufferingbecause life is both.
So if you have been a follower of Jesusfor any length of time at all, I think

(03:41):
you'll recognize that both are true.
It's not like some parts of yourlife you have some happy times.
Other times you have some sad times.
Well, it can work that way, butoften it's the two together.
And so the joy and the sufferingtogether is the theme that unfolds.
'cause Paul's in jail writingto his friends who he loves and
he's full of joy about them.
But being in jail is not much fun,especially in the first century.

(04:04):
So the joy of participating in the thingthat God is doing is what he focuses on
in the first 11 verses, God put Jesus incharge and it's all about Jesus being the
one who is now the ruler of the world.
And Paul writes this stuffwhile Caesar has him locked up.
So who's right in the world?
Not Caesar, Jesus.
That's, that's his joy.

(04:27):
The second part of the firstchapter then is the Imperial
Guard is hearing about Jesus.
And Paul talks about how the pretor,the guard that's there, that's holding
him as prisoner is a captive audience.
So who's the real captives?
In this situation.
And so as the guards hear this messageand they begin to chat about it

(04:49):
down the hallways, I think some of
them are,
hearing it and going, oh wow.
Caesar isn't running the world.
This Jesus has come back from thedead and he's running and some are
believing it and others are mockingPaul about it to make it worse for him.
And Paul says, I don't care.
Whatever their reasons are, I'm justglad they're all talking about Jesus.

(05:09):
'cause he's the one thatwill change everything.
So that's the way heintroduces the letter.
And then I think he wraps itup at the end of the very first
chapter,
with the main message of whathe's asking the Philippines to do.
Now, only let your manner of lifebe worthy of the gospel of Christ is
the way the English standard versiontranslate translates that, but it's

(05:32):
deeper than just conduct yourselves well.
Live.
Live.
Well, the verb that Paul useshas to do with being a citizen.
So what he's saying is, the onlything I'm asking from you, Philippi,
is that you live as a citizen ofKing Jesus honoring the good news,

(05:54):
the proclamation that he is king.
That's what he's askingof the Philippians.
Now they, Paul's in jail.
They've sent finance, they've, there'sa connection between the two, but all
that Paul wants is for them to live outwhat it looks like to be a community
under the leadership of King Jesus.
I think that's the point of the letter.
So what we're aiming for by thetime we finish tonight is have

(06:15):
this sense of a desire to live out.
What it looks like to be acommunity led by King Jesus.
What did you say The theme of thechurch was, Adam, that his will is
done on earth as it is in heaven.
That the kingdom, his kingdomcome and he comes in us, in the
community under his leadership.
That's chapter one.
Beautiful In chapter two.

(06:36):
Then Paul is four examples ofwhat this looks like in practice.
'cause in the end, that's all justtalk until it's lived that way.
So the first one who livesit in chapter two is Jesus.
We've got that magnificent poemto the way Jesus laid aside all of
his powers and became the servantof humanity even down into death.

(07:00):
And God raised him up andgave him the kingship.
So that's the path we're gonna have totake this, this path of following Jesus.
It's not going to be like,this is all hunky Dorian.
Have a wonderful life inYou're following Jesus.
You are going to suffer in a worldwhere other people are not following.
God, because that's what Jesus did.
And the other three examples inthe chapter are just like that.

(07:20):
Paul himself, Timothy, who's oneof Paul's friends, and Roers,
who is one of the Ephesians.
And so now, who should I name from thecongregation that we're in tonight?
Because you're the fifthexample in this chapter.
You are.
That's what this is about.
It's living out the reality thatJesus is king, Philippians three.

(07:40):
Paul says, effectively the mebetter than You game is over.
Now, back in those first centurychurches, there were those who
felt like their people had been thepeople of God for thousands of years.
I'm talking about those that werepart of the Old Testament story, the
Jewish people, and they saw these.
non-Jewish people that are now recognizesthe the Jewish Messiah and come in under

(08:03):
his leadership and they're thinking,
oh, really?
They're not leaving the way that we do.
They haven't got themselves circumcised.
They're not following the Torah.
It's like they're not behaving the waythat the people of God ought to behave.
And Paul writes to themand says, you know what?
All that stuff about us beingdefined by how well we obey

(08:24):
God's laws, that's all rubbish.
That that's all trash.
I used to live that way,but it's all nothing.
The only thing that matters is thatKing Jesus has come back from the
dead and he's in charge of everybody.
So coming under his leadershipis the one thing that matters.
So come on value.
What King Jesus values yourlife in Christ is the way that

(08:48):
God is transforming the world.
That's Philippians three, sorry.
And then the final chapter.
Paul says that living the vision ofJesus is what we're on about because
Jesus is the leader of the world.
So it's time for us to let go of ourhurts and to stand together in King Jesus.

(09:11):
And he names a couple of peoplein the church that are having
trouble getting on with each other.
I know that we've neverhappen at Red Door No.
Or Riverview, but as we do life together,we are going to hurt each other.
And there are going to betimes when you'll feel like.
Pulling back from
someone else.
It's important to face those hurts.

(09:31):
It's important to acknowledgethem and to get through them,
but we can't divide up over it.
Mm. Otherwise, the message that Jesushas made, peace, peace with God, and
peace with each other doesn't work.
So we've gotta find a wayto get through our pain.
We can't be at all with each other.
If the gospel is that God has made peacein Christ, I. So then it goes on to

(09:55):
describe what it looks like to find peacein the world, and we find peace and joy
by focusing on Jesus' agenda, not on mine.
Typ.
Typically, I'm happy if I'm gettingwhat I want and I'm unhappy if
I'm not getting what I want.
Yeah, but that's not how Jesus lives.
So if I'm living for Jesus' agenda,then just seeing you tonight.

(10:17):
Is joy because I'm seeing peoplefor whom Jesus is Lord, and you are
living this stuff and you are my joy.
Isn't that what Paulsaid to the Philippians?
Yeah.
And and it's true.
It's true.
It's seeing you as servants of Jesus.
You are the joy and the peacethat comes by focusing on his

(10:39):
agenda rather than my hurts.
That revolutionizes the world,and then he finishes the letter
up by saying, you're doing it.
You're actually living this stuff.
Fantastic.
Keep going.
Keep doing it.
I can do all these thingsthrough King Jesus, because he's
present and his presence empowersus to live this in reality.

(11:06):
So the end of the wholeletter then is this
statement that,
we are God's household brothersand sisters in the Messiah.
And that household is so muchmore powerful than anything else.
Oh, and by the way, some Machouseholds getting this message too,
learning how to be Jesus household.
'cause that's the bigger one.

(11:27):
These are the closing verses ofthe letter, and then it wraps it
all up by saying the grace of ourruler Messiah, Jesus, be with your
spirit, empowering you to be theagents of God's healing in his world.
That's my prayer for you tonight.
That was awesome.

(11:47):
What a what?
A what a joy it is to hear you.
Help us remember and reflect onwhat we've just been through.
It is a powerful letter.
And a letter
that is,
that is speaking topeople's contexts, isn't it?
Yeah, absolutely.
Can you tell us just a littlebit about what the Philippians

(12:08):
are going through at that time?
Like what are the things that, what arethey being called away from pursuing?
What is it costing them?
Wow.
Okay.
Do you know a littlebit about Philipp Pipe?
Did you talk about what,where, where Philipp Pipe was?
It's Yes.
In a little bit.
Yep.
Yep.
It's in the northern areaof what is Greece today?
Macedonia in those days, and itwas an imperial town where Caesar's

(12:31):
power was really, really big.
It was like if you were, if, if you get to
Canberra today,
it's all on the social scale levels about.
What your government job is.
So it's kind of like that in Philippi.
Yeah.
And this is the first town in Europethat Paul visited with the gospel.
He'd been through the, theAsian side, which is like
Turkey and,

(12:52):
Antioch and what of Syria.
He'd been through that region and whenhe crosses over into Europe, Philippi
was the first town that, that he went to.
And he's looking for people whomight be interested in King Jesus.
And he finds a woman who's got a Jewish
background.
She's a. Pretty wealthy businesswoman
actually.
And so,

(13:13):
she puts Paul up and looks after him.
And then he tries to explain tothe Philippian town what it would
be like to live under King Jesus.
And there's this slave girl with a spiritthat enables her to predict the future.
And she races around and she's constantlyinterrupting Paul, and he sets her free.

(13:33):
It's the first Christian emancipationof a slave in the New Testament.
That doesn't go down too well.
'cause in Rome, the whole economyrelies on having slaves, right?
So what he's doing is not acceptable.
They took Paul into prison and Pauleventually gets asked to leave the town.
But there's already people who arefollowers of Jesus in that place.

(13:55):
Yes, this is the church that Paul founds.
It's a mixture of Jews and Gentiles.
It's a mixture of wealthy peoplelike Lydia and those who are slaves
and have had basically nothing, andthey're trying to learn how to live
together as a community of faith andrepresent King Jesus in Philippi.

(14:16):
And Paul goes, the only way you'regonna do this is to do it unselfishly.
Like what Jesus did, empty yourself.
That that helps us get a littlepicture of what this small
little church is made up of.
Yep.
And you can just see how in a communitylike that, there would be clashes.
Absolutely.
And there would be issues relationally.

(14:36):
Yeah.
Thanks.
Thanks Ellen.
So our first question from our Slido is.
Why does Paul refer to being contentin Christ a secret in that fourth
chapter?
Can I pull this up on the, on the screen?
In fact, this thing isn't getting power.
Are we able to sort of follow thatline and see where it needs to plug it?

(14:58):
Lemme check.
What's the verse for that?
Luke, have you got a verse for that, Luke?
So it's chapter,
chapter four, verse 12.
Okay.
I like to actually read the text, that'swhy I'm pulling it up on the screen here.
Paul says, I know what it is to be inneed and I know what it is to have plenty.

(15:20):
I've learned at the secret of beingcontent in any and every situation,
whether well fed or hungry.
Looks like it's gone through.
Hmm.
Alright.
That'll be
okay.
Yes.
Yeah.
Why is it a secret?
That's the question.
That's the question.
Yeah.

(15:40):
Why is it a secret?
Secret is kind of like a metaphor.
It's not like, shh, don't tell anybody.
It's not, not that kind
of secret.
Paul describes something that's notcommonly known, not commonly understood.
Most people in Australia will get uptomorrow morning to go to work to earn
money, and we're actually driven by money.

(16:03):
And Paul's not doing this.
Paul has not been drivenby money for a long time.
He's traveled from place to place andsometimes he's been really well fed.
I think at Philippi he would'vebeen doing really well.
Lydia was a purple cellar.
Now there was, there's twokinds of purple in the Roman.
Well, one was just a cheap purplethat the second time you washed
it, it lost all the purple.
The other one was made froma little tiny sea creature.

(16:27):
And the die from that little seacreature cost an absolute fortune to buy.
And so the wealthy Romans lovedthis particular purple, and Lydia
was a business woman who sold thisand made a business out of it.
So she, according to Acts 16, putPaul and Silas up in her house.

(16:48):
And so she's really, really bad off.
I mean, she would've been servinglobster and prawn cocktails.
Paul's doing really, really wellwhen he eats at her place, but
other places he's not doing that.
There's, there's other nights where Paulsays to Silas, this isn't in the Bible.
I'm making this up.
But you get the picture, Paul says
to Silas,
you, you got me that bit of bread left.

(17:08):
And, and Silas says, no,we ate all that last night.
Paul says, oh, I've got some.
Pasta with nothing to put on it.
Could we just boil itup and have it tonight?
And it's enough to keep your life,but that's all you could say.
It's not a, not a great meal.
And Paul goes either way.
It's not about how much can Ienjoy life on the way through.

(17:32):
It's all about.
Being servants of King Jesus,and most people don't know this.
That's why he calls it a secret.
I've learned the secret thatit's not about how much pleasure
I can have on the way through.
That's that's not the point of life.
The point is, who are you living for?
Are you living for the restorationof a world under king Jesus, the way

(17:53):
that God planted in the beginning?
So in the end, we all finish upas brothers and sisters in a human
family where everyone's cared for.
So.
Or is it about having as much fun asyou can now while other people are still
starving and there's places in the worldwhere babies haven't got enough to,
well, which, which way are you living?
The secret is serving Jesus,not living for pleasure.

(18:15):
That's
great.
Well done.
Okay.
The phrase becoming like him inhis death in Philippians 3 10, 1.
What does Paul mean by this?
How do we become like Jesus in his death?
I want you to know, Christ has to knowthe power of his resurrection and the

(18:39):
participation in his sufferings becominglike him in his death, and so somehow
attaining to the resurrection of the dead.
In the context of the third chapter,Paul has been talking about people
who wanna divide up over issues likecircumcision, family background,

(18:59):
who's, who's the top dogs and who'sthe bottom of the barrel people.
And he said, what should Jesus do?
Did Jesus live like the topped dog?
Did Jesus walk around?
Glee going, get down and worship me?
Don't you know who I am?
But he's the king.
Sent by God, the anointed Messiah,and he goes around looking for,

(19:21):
oh my goodness, this personlooks like they're in in trouble.
I wonder if I could help this one.
So he'll, he'll provide foodfor, he's, he's living out of
that kind of servant motivation.
You refer to that earlier, nightly.
He did that so much that in the end.

(19:42):
He did lose his life doing that.
Yeah.
Becoming a servant for humanity.
Now Paul says, I wanna live like that too.
I am a says at the start of the letter,I am an ambassador for the highest
government on the planet King Jesus.
But I'm not wandering around Asialooking to be recognized for that.

(20:06):
I'm chucked in jail.
Because I'm claiming someone elseis king instead of Caesar, and
I'm happy to be that as long ashis jailers are healing the story.
Yeah.
Long as you guys are learning tounderstand that, so, so he's entering
into a selfless life that within afew years will cost him his life.

(20:27):
Paul will die.
He will literally die put todeath by Caesar and he knows.
That Jesus will raise him up andgive him the whole eternity in
the reign of God, the way that Godalways intended the planet to be.

(20:47):
He knows he's got all that coming 'causeGod's already done that for Jesus.
And God's doing that for us as well.
So then why would we livefor me when I can live for
Jesus when I can give my life?
'cause the one who gives it finds it.
Yeah.
But the one who keeps it loses
it.

(21:07):
So good.
Given the call for Unity in Philippiansfour, how do you view conflict within
churches, congregation, and leadership insome practical ways to resolve this today?
Conflict in churches.
Oh, my hat.
But you've never experienced that.

(21:28):
Because river view's perfect.
Yeah,
I won't go there
Luke.
See,
as I'm aging, I'm kind of understandingsin differently from what I used
to, used to think of sin as kindof like doing some bad things.
Everything from taking apaperclip, you know, to uh.

(21:49):
But, but since more than that, sin is likea power that wants to actually control us.
And if ever I step over the line andseek to get power over people, I am
operating under the power of sin.
Now, my wife Robin is here tonight.
If I treat Robin like that, right?
I'm operating under the power.

(22:09):
Of sin.
And if my will is pitted againsthers, then I'm not gonna give in
and we're gonna be at loggerheads o
over this.
It's all about power.
So craving for power is at the heartof what's wrong with the world?
Yes.
Ever since Eden actually.
When the first couple said, we want theknowledge of good and evil for ourselves,

(22:29):
and we want to be Gods and we want tobe able to take power over this stuff.
And they tried to take power fromGod as that's the stuff that's
wrong with the world, and thereforethat's our biggest struggle.
But I want to be in charge.
I want to have my will done.
I wanna impose my thoughts, myabilities, my perception on other people.

(22:54):
I am doing damage as soon as I dothat, and we do hurt each other.
So if we had a falling out,Luke, like you said, we've been
talking to this for about seven
years and
if we had a falling out orwe were strong, probably be
my fault if we didn't.
No, not necessarily becauseboth of us are human beings

(23:16):
with this power struggle thing.
Right.
And if I'm trying to impose mywill and my beliefs on you, instead
of us being brothers and seekingJesus together, then you're gonna
have to confront me about that.
Yeah.
And say, Alan, that hurts.
Yeah.
'cause you are imposing your will on me.
We have to talk about it.
We gotta be honest with each otherly.
And I have to hear that feedbackand then respond in a way where

(23:38):
I'm going, oh, was it, or, or.
Yes, I was.
Yeah, because it's only in the humilitythat we can find that kind of healing that
Jesus brings.
I just love what Jesus did.

(23:59):
If you wanna know what the judgmentof God looks like, ask Jesus.
Mm-hmm.
Jesus is in this moment where theleaders in Jerusalem are nailing
him to a cross and hanging him upand saying, he's a false messiah.
He's the king of the Jews.
So he claims, and, and in that moment whenthey're doing that to him, Jesus prayer is

(24:22):
not, get him for what they're doing to me.
I know.
What did he pray?
Yeah.
You remember?
Yeah.
Father, forgive them.
They don't understand.
Yeah.
That's the example of Philippians
two.
So this is getting backto Philippians two.
That, that this is not just a pieceof worship that we're reading.

(24:47):
This is an invitation to come and live.
And so where, where the church becomesrebels or usurers to the king, then
we have, we have relational issues.
That's right.
Is that, is that, that's it.
Yep, that's it.
Yep.
So it's a race to humility.

(25:07):
Now
Service.
A faithfulness to imageChrist to each other.
It's only in laying mylife down to care for you.
Exactly.
And vice versa.
Yeah.
That we're going to overcome the tendencythat we both have to want to be in charge.
Yes.
And that is to be in Christ.
Yeah.
So we model to each other whatJesus has already done for

(25:31):
us, and we know how to do it.
We know how to lovebecause he first loved us.
Right?
That's right.
So out of what he has done for us, we areempowered to love each other like that.
That's great.
Rather to seek to dominate each other.
Yeah.
That's great Alan.
Thank you.
Why do you think Paul connectsgentleness with the statement the Lord
is near in Philippians four verse five?

(25:55):
Philippians four and verse five.
Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near.
Um.
There's different ways youcan understand some of these.
Text the Lord is near couldmean Jesus is coming back soon.
I mean, it's often read that way,but I tend to think Paul wasn't just

(26:16):
imagining something that was likelyto happen in a few thousand years
time when he said, the Lord is near.
What he is saying is that the resurrectedJesus is already living here in the
community and he's living in you.
And I recognize Jesus in you.
There's something reallyspecial when we get together.
And talk because Jesus is in you andyou've got this soft heart towards God.

(26:36):
Right.
And Jesus is living me.
So we experience Jesus together.
And out of that experience of who Jesusis, we learn to be gentle with each other.
Yeah.
Because that's what he'salready done for us.
So it is the nearness of Jesusthat empowers us to treat each
other with gentleness instead ofseeking to dominate each other.

(27:00):
Oh, that's good.
That's awesome.
It's also
encouraging 'cause
I lent that way as well at word of way.
So there you go.
I took that.
Yeah.
That escal eschatological
sort of,
interpretation doesn't seem toflow too neatly there, but there's
that sense that, hey, be faithfulbecause he's, he's with us, you know,

(27:25):
the presence.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Beautiful.
What.
It's, it's a
horrible fever,
that you can
catch.
No,
escal logical just means the last
things or, the end.
So what was that?

(27:46):
I missed that funny
comment, but,
yeah, so.
As Alan just articulated, thereis one interpretation the Lord is
near that Jesus is coming soon.
He, his his second coming,his his inauguration.
He's bringing his
kingdom,
is coming soon
or near,
as opposed to the Lord is near.

(28:07):
Let's act like that asfaithful servants to him.
Yeah.
There, there is a sense
in which,
Jesus' presence is not fully here yet.
Correct.
And when he returns.
It'll be full of here, right?
Yes.
And I love how Philippians two describesthat as every knee will bow and every
tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
So when there's a world ready to submitto his leadership, Jesus will return

(28:32):
and his presence will be visibly herein a way that we don't experience now.
That's how the story ends.
So eschatological is how the story ends.
Yes.
But the end of the story.
Yeah, the end of the story.
We're looking forward to that,but we're not having to wait until
that moment before Jesus is here.
Jesus is near now.
Yeah.
Not visibly, but in the community ofpeople who recognize his leadership.

(28:54):
He's already here.
Yes.
As, as Alan has once describedit, Jesus is king and the
reality of his kingdom is real.
It's just that not all of us are bowingthe need to the king, and that is
the place that we, we find ourselves.
So what does it look like to be contentin our modern day comfortable lives?

(29:18):
Oh my,
Ooh, that's a good one.
What does it look like to be content?
Paul talks quite a bit about being contentin this story, and he says, whether
I'm eating,
lobster.
And prawn cocktails at Lydia'shouse or whether I'm just cooking
up some bare pasta with absolutelynothing to put on it, which is

(29:40):
not so tasty Either way, I am.
Content.
So being content has tocover that kind of spectrum.
God is not the kind of God who wantsus always to be suffering and always
to be down and not having much right?
God's.
God's not that kind of God, but neitheris God the kind of God who wants a few.

(30:03):
Wealthy people to own everything whileother people are starving on the planet.
'cause what is providedis enough for all of us.
So those of us who have somethingneed to be able to share it.
And at the time when you haven'tgot much, there's a sense in
which we learned to be content.
Now Paul was in jail whenhe was writing his letter.
Yes.
In a Roman jail.

(30:23):
They did not feed you Well, thePhilippians had actually sent
some money with a paphitis sothat Paul could get a decent meal.
'cause most days he's not getting it.
So some days he's doing okay.
Other days he's not doing so greatas far as the world is concerned.
He goes, either way, I am content.
And why is he content?

(30:43):
He's content because God has putJesus in charge of the world.
And his whole world is underrestoration, and he gets to talk
about that even to the guards whilehe is in jail and doesn't have much.
So he's content because Jesus is Lord,because Jesus is God's anointed ruler
who's fixing the whole world, andultimately will said all things right.

(31:06):
Who would not be content with thatregardless of what you're eating today?
That's good.
It's good.
any, particular tips,
on how to apply the message ofPhilippians to people struggling
with anxiety or depression?
Oh, wow.
Anxiety or depression?

(31:27):
Okay.
Let me back up to thebeginning of your question.
How do we apply this letter?
Many of us, myself included overthe years, have tended to read the
text and straight away I go to, tome, if Paul says, I have learned
the secret of being contained, thenI, Alan, have learned the secret of
being right.
I find there's a middle step therethat we've missed that helps us

(31:49):
get, not not to get the message.
The middle step is to listen to Paulbefore I try to apply it to myself.
What did, what was Paul experiencing?
He's actually in jail.
Mm.
He's chained inside a cell in one ofCaesar's jails in Rome as he writes

(32:09):
this stuff, and when I take myselfinto Paul's position rather than just
make it about me, then all the thingsthat seem wrong for me, perhaps.
Take on a different perspective.
Yeah.
It's easy for me to feel downif I didn't get that job that

(32:32):
I wanted.
If a friend has hurt me, if I'm feeling
rejection,
if I'm unwell, it's, it's easyfor me then to start feeling.
What's my life worth?
Yeah.
'cause it's the focus on me.
It seems to me that the way Paulgot around that was to look outside

(32:54):
of the self and the self strugglesand to go, sure, I'm in a jail cell.
Who can I talk to?
Oh, there's guards here.
And so rather than focus on.
How dejected I feel.
And actually I'm sleepingon bare concrete and it's
cold.
Yeah.

(33:14):
And it's not comfortable.
And I actually, I'm not sleepingvery well and I'm grumpy in the
morning 'cause I haven't slept.
And, but instead of focusing onthat, he's going on, you know
what, the reason I'm here is thatGod sent Jesus to set the world.
Right.
And Caesar doesn't like it.
So if this is how God's gonnafix the world, I'm okay.

(33:34):
Yeah.
With being cold, hungry.
Grumpy not sleeping.
I'm okay with a world that doesn'thave to be centered on me and who I am
because Jesus is fixing the world now.
He's doing that through you.
Even when you're feelingsquashed, anxious, fearful,

(33:58):
depressed, concerned, rejected.
Those feelings are real.
Don't, don't pretend they're not real.
But that's not the only reality.
The other reality is that Godis putting Jesus in front of the
world, in charge of the world.
And this story is gonna endwell when every knee bows

(34:21):
and every tongue confesses.
I'm in my seventies now, Luke, and I'vestarted using a stick to get around and
just not as active as what I used to be,but I'm not feeling down about that stuff.
Yeah, because God'sfixing the world in Jesus.
Yes.
What else is there to bemore joyful about than God?
Setting all things right in Christ.

(34:43):
So the joy of who he is.
Is my strength.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And the contentment of the fact thatit's in his hands and he's sorting it
out, keeps me going when life's tough.
Yeah.
That's good.
That's so good.
Great answer.
Why do you think Paul connects gentleness?

(35:04):
Oh, I've read that one.
Mm-hmm.
Let's mark that one as answered.
Hey, why did Paul allowthe Philippians church, the
Philippian church,
to share with him in thematters of giving and receiving?
Okay.
And maybe you speak outof that in their giving.
That that is, that is not outta plenty.

(35:25):
It's out of little.
And
Paul, Paul,
commends them on partakingof hardship with him.
Yeah.
Yeah, that it's really interesting thatthis didn't come up until the very last
chapter of the book, isn't it Luke?
Yeah.
It's like Paul has, they,they've sent some money to,
they actually sent Epaphroditus.
'cause there's no likeAustralia Post to carry this

(35:46):
to them.
There's no internet banking.
Right?
So Paphitis has actually had to takethe gift that they collected and walk.
Or catch a boat all the way to Romeand find the prison that Paul's
in and make and, and probablygo buy some food, actually is
probably what he's done with it.
And then bring some food to Paul, maybesome clothes, maybe some Parchments so

(36:07):
Paul could write them back a letter.
You know, that's the sort of stuff Iimagine that the Paradise has done with
the, the, the money that they've brought.
And then Paul writes this data tothem and right near the end of it,
he says, ah, and thank you so much.
For participating with me in this thing,it is so much bigger than what you are.
So he's glad that they havean interest in proclaiming the

(36:29):
gospel 'cause that's who Paul is.
Paul's identity is as an ambassador forthe king of heaven, for the governments
of earth and the peoples of the earthto learn that God has put his man.
King Jesus the Messiah in chargeof the world and Jesus is our Lord.
That's, that's the messagePaul proclaims everywhere.

(36:50):
And the fact that this churchwants to participate in helping
to proclaim that message.
Paul goes, thank you so much.
And then he says, but you know what?
I didn't need it.
'cause even if I'm just eatingpastor without, with nothing
on it, I'm content with that.
I'm, I'm not asking you for anything,but I'm so thrilled that you did
this because it shows me your values.

(37:10):
My bank account tells you my values.
If you look at what I spend mymoney on, then you know what sorts
of things are important to me, andI think that's true for all of us.
So what does your bank accountsay about what you value in life?
I think Paul's gratitude is these peoplevalue proclaiming the good news of Jesus.

(37:33):
So how could we be involved indoing that both here at Red Dot?
And with people in other places as wellto ensure that the good news of Jesus
gets proclaimed to all the peoples of the
earth.
Yeah.
Verses four, four through nine connectwith verses four, one through three.

(37:54):
Are we talking about the last chapter?
Yeah, the last chapter.
So chapter four, verses fourthrough nine and chapter four.
One through three.
Is he discussing conflict resolutionor has he changed the topic?
Great question.
All right, so in verses one to three,he says, therefore, brothers and sisters
whom I love and long for with my joy,crown stand firm in the Lord in this way.

(38:18):
Dear friends, I played withYoda and I played with sin.
He being of the same mind in the Lord.
So he is talking aboutconflict resolution, and then
he says, rejoice in the Lord.
Always, always.
It's not a total disconnect.
These people who are having troublegetting on with each other every time

(38:40):
they get together at church and you'rein trouble with someone else and
you see that person, you walk in thedoor if you haven't got it resolved.
It's a problem right then and there.
And how are you ever going toget through the memory of what
this person has done to you?
It's absolutely crucial that we learn howto resolve our conflicts with each other.

(39:04):
And it doesn't mean we're always gonnaagree, but it does mean that we need to
be able to talk about it when we've heard
each other,
one of the.
Wonder.
Beautiful.
I'm thinking about Robin becausethat's who I share life with, right?
Yeah.
Robin's a very gentle person andit's important for me to give her the
opportunity to say when I've hurt her.
Yes.
Because if I don't give herthe opportunity, it just stays

(39:27):
under the under the surface.
Right.
So I need to, I need to be open andlistening to know when I've hurt her.
I think we've gotta livethat way with each other.
Yeah.
Listening to each other, hearing what theother, someone comes and says, you hurt
me when.
Defensive reaction is normal, but the onlyway we're gonna be able to repair that

(39:49):
relationship is to listen and go, really?
Oh, I didn't understand.
And think back and come to terms withwhat it is so that we can heal each other.
And even if we're not able to agreeyet, rather than to allow that to
become the thing that dominatesyour thinking, so you're constantly

(40:09):
thinking about what's gone wrong,he says, rejoice in who Jesus is.
Now if I am thinking abouthow Jesus is treated me.
I'm so grateful for the grace, thecompassion, the understanding, the
generosity that he has shown towards me.

(40:32):
Then rejoicing in who he is and whathe's done is going to empower me
to take the position of the cross.
Yeah.
And to cross that bridge.
Yes.
Uh.
And to restore the relationship.
So I think the followinginstructions about how you come
to live at Peace do follow onfrom restoring the relationships.

(40:55):
And the reason it's so crucial wedo that is that the gospel says
that God reconciles humanity withhimself and humanity with each other.
The gospel says the war is over.
The nations are used to fight each other.
Are now being called underthe leadership of Jesus.
So the war is over andwe've gotta live that.
Yes,

(41:17):
very good.
How can I authentically livefor Christ's agenda and truly
love rejoice in what he loves?
That's the question.
That's the question.
Okay.
Have you got some suggestions on that one?
I'm not a hundred percent clear onhow we go ahead and, and, and do that.

(41:39):
Is it forgiveness to each other?
Is that the starting point?
Yeah, I think so.
Is it generosity, understandingsomeone else's needs, seeing,
listening, hearing, praying?
I, I, I guess one of the
things for me,
is prayer as you pray for people.
You're listening to the spirit of Godwho will drop things into your heart

(42:02):
about where someone else is, and it'sout of prayer then that we gain awareness
about other people when we need to.
Yes.
I love the fact that there were times
when Jesus,
went to people and asked a guy whowas blind, what would you like?

(42:23):
Because it's best if the person cansay, but there were other people who
couldn't say what they were doing.
And the spirit gave Jesus the insightto know what to do in that situation.
So if someone's able tosay, then listen to them.
If they're not able to say, listen tothe spirit and hear what the spirit's
saying, and that will cause us to livetogether in harmony under the spirit

(42:48):
who is embodying what the head wants.
Yeah.
Yep.
Is that,
no, it's good addressing.
That's great.
Is it too far fetched?
To extend,
Philippians one to fellow Christiansin the nations that we don't
know and they don't know us.

(43:08):
It's that prayer
in verses
nine to 10.
Yep.
When interceding for the nations.
This is my prayer, that your love mayabound more and more in the knowledge
and depth and insight so that you'llbe able to discern what is the best
and maybe pure and blameless for theday of Christ, filled with the fruit of

(43:29):
righteousness that comes through JesusChrist to the glory and praise of God.
That prayer
Paul used that prayer forhis friends in Philipp High.
He'd been there for only a short time.
There was some of the people heknew, there were others he did not.
So some of them he's praying for.
He understands who they are andwhat their, what their needs are.

(43:51):
But primarily there are, thereare people who want to know Jesus.
So this particular prayer.
Would be most useful, I think, for peoplewho are followers of Jesus, that they
will be able to have that kind of depthof insight into who God, who Christ
is, and what it's like to live for him.

(44:14):
For someone who doesn't know Jesusyet, I think I'd probably be praying.
God, give them arevelation of who Jesus is.
'cause that's the thing that they needbefore they even get to, to this spot.
Just by the way, in church,we've sometimes thought that the
way you get somebody saved isto tell 'em how bad they are.
And the first thing you have to do issay, I'm a sinner, and pray the sinner's

(44:36):
prayer and give your life to Jesus.
And after you've done that, then you canbe one of us and we can pray this for you.
Right?
So we, we tend to like use judgment asthe way in which we think we get people
to say, oh, help want it to be saved.
That's not the pattern in scripture.
The pattern of scripture is thatit's not a revelation of how
bad I am that gets me saved.
It's a revelation of who Jesus is.

(44:57):
So Paul himself, yes.
Wrote to Damascus, yes.
A revelation of who Jesus is,sees Jesus as Lord of all later,
Paul goes, what was I thinking?
Right?
So a revelation of Jesus makes us aware ofour need rather than the other way around.
So for people who dunno, God, yetmy prayer is Father, give them a

(45:21):
revelation of Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
Show them who Jesus is.
Amen.
And of course we're calledto embody who Jesus is.
So it's in the body of believers whorepresent Jesus, that they're most
likely to see the revelation of Jesus.
Yes.
So
good mate.
There is a, there is a,i I did enjoy this one.
Should I go to prison to find

(45:42):
contentment?
Yeah, I suppose
you could.
Yes.
Slaves to Christ.
I like that.
Yeah.
We're in captivity underhis rule and reign.

(46:03):
There you go.
Do you know as as funny as thatis, it's probably important to
say that when God sets us free.
Yes.
So we are no longer underthe powers of sin and death.
It's not freedom to be whatever I like.
No, that's right.
It's freedom to be hispeople under his leadership.
Yes.

(46:23):
Yep.
That's very good.
Is unity always possible in this
present moment?
What if not all parties wishto lay down their own agenda?
That's a great question.
Yeah.
I guess this is probably a questionthat's come out of real experience.
I was struggling with these years ago, andI just could not make this thing right.

(46:47):
Any relationship from two peopleupwards, each person has their will.
And if I'm trying to force you to comeback and reconcile with me, then me
attempting to force it, it's just evil.
Yeah.
So I have to be willing to talk,seek reconciliation and wait.

(47:13):
Until you also want reconciliation.
Because unless we bothdo, it's not gonna happen.
And I can remember feeling theweight of that 'cause we feel like
we should be able to fix this.
Right?
And I started to realizethe patience of God.
God has had a whole world of people thatbroke relationship with him, and he's in

(47:35):
the process of restoring a relationshipand his method of doing that is across.
That's Philippians two.
And, and so, so God is still waiting.
And today we probably have about 2billion people out of the people on Earth.
Who would say, yeah, okay.
I'm, I'm with you on this one.
God responding to the reconciliationand the rest of the world.

(47:59):
It's still happening.
How long is it gonna take beforeevery knee bows and every time,
how, how long is this whole thinggoing and the patience of God?
Mm-hmm.
It's just like absurd.
Yeah.
Beyond my lifetime, beyondthe patience that I have.
God is still patient seeking,reconciliation, waiting

(48:19):
for people to restore.
And then I found a verse in Romans 12that said that God's God wrote Romans 12.
As far as it depends on you,be at peace with everyone.
Yeah.
And I read that going, oh, some ofthese things don't defend on me.
Yeah.

(48:39):
And I can accept that.
Live in that freedom.
Do what a heavenly father's doingby not forcing his bond on everyone.
Yep.
And take that gentle reconcilingapproach for the people who are
responsive and pray for God to helpthose who are not yet responsive to
me as I try to keep my heart open.

(49:02):
Very
encouraging mate.
Philippians three, verse 10 Throughtwo 11, Paul speaks of knowing Christ
through the fellowship of his sufferingsand attaining the resurrection.
How does this align with salvation?
By faith align.
Ah,
I thought you might like
that.
Oh, my hat.
How long have we got on that one?

(49:23):
We won't take all night totalk to talk about that one.
That's, that's a big one.
Becoming like him in his, thatsomehow attaining to the resurrection
from the dead and attainingsounds like we're doing works.
Paul is not that.
I've already attained it.
I'm pressing on to take hold of that.
So he is working hard for thisand then the next verse he says,

(49:43):
because it's God who's working us.
Is it me?
Is it God?
There's a huge theological argumentthat comes out of this entire scripture.
What I suggest, it works like this.
God, even when humans were unfaithful,remained faithful because God remained
faithful to the peoples of the earth.

(50:04):
He did right by us.
His doing right wasproviding Jesus 'cause.
God was faithful.
He did right.
He asked us to respond to him in the sameway, to give him our loyalty to out of
faithfulness, we will do right by Godand ultimately by each other as well.

(50:28):
So God is the one who sets us rightand empowers us to do right, not
because that earns our salvation,but out of faithfulness to the
one who was faithful to us.
So it starts with hisfaithfulness, him doing right.
The Christ who rescues us, our loyaltyto him and then out of faithfulness

(50:52):
to Christ, we end up doing right.
I think that's the sequence.
So good mate.
In practice.
Yeah.
So good.
So to wrap up Philippians,what do we walk away with?
I think we work, walk awaywith this good news that God.

(51:14):
Has made his anointed one.
Yes.
Messiah, Jesus.
King of the world.
Of the World Hall.
Yeah.
And as king, he has citizens.
Yes.
And the invitation for us is tocome and live as citizens in that
kingdom under his leadership.
Amen.
Yeah, absolutely.

(51:34):
And so this, sorry, that's how theworld discovers who their king is.
Yes.
Because the king is known in the kingdom.
That recognizes the king.
Yeah.
And so the work that we have todo in our lives is to continue to
understand who this king is Yes.
And what our kingdom responsibilitiesare as citizens of his kingdom.

(51:58):
Absolutely.
Amen.
Absolutely.
Beautiful.
To live the life that Jesusis living through You.
So good.
Mate, can we just thank Alan?
Yes.