12th July 2026 : Philippians ch 1 v 1 - 26

Philippians ch 1 v 1 - 26

Let's pray for you, John.

Bless him, Lord, anoint him, Lord, make your goodness known to him and bless his family and bless his home, bless his whole experience in Christ Jesus. And Lord, may by your grace, Lord, some of that goodness be released to us now in Jesus' name.

Good morning, everyone. I think I know most faces now, and hopefully most faces know me by now, but my name's John, married to Sue, who you had the pleasure of hearing the other week. Sue and I, for many years, have been in a church called the Olive Branch Community Church, which was based in Croft. It was a church that we had a vision to plant, oh, gosh. nearly 40 years ago now.

But, the Lord has moved us on and there's a new chapter in our lives. And as we're working that out, I have to say it's been an absolute pleasure sharing fellowship with you guys. You don't know what a blessing you've been to us. The first time we came into here and we heard the prayers, We heard the singing, we heard the joy and the love for the Lord. It was just a real blessing to our hearts. So bless you. Keep going.

I've actually known Roger for about 30 years now. We met each other on the student ministers course, but that of course was in the times when they'd allowed 12 year olds on the course. And it's lovely to be able to share fellowship with you.

So this morning our reading's going to come from the book of Philippians, chapter 1, the church of Philippi. If you don't know much about the church of Philippi, you'll find it in Acts chapter 16. And it's an interesting read. It's the place where Paul had been flogged and beaten. But it also seen the jailer come to know the Lord and see his family converted as well. So there's a great move of God there. And it's also a place where a lady called Lydia, a businesswoman who dealt in purple cloth, which meant she was quite wealthy really. This was the place where she became one of the first Christians.

And the letter to the Philippians is probably the most personal example of Paul's correspondence. As you read it, you see that he obviously had a great deal of affection in his heart for the church at Philippi. And I hope that as we read it this morning that comes out. So shall we read it together?

Philippians 1, we're going to, I'm reading from the NIV and we're going to read from verse 1 to verse 26. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

And just as I was looking at this reading, I just felt that I'd want to pause at that verse because I believe, even though it's not what I'm going to be speaking about this morning, this might be a verse for somebody this morning. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It's right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart, for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. It's true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defence of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or pure, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted 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 go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again, your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. Amen.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word this morning. And I pray, Lord, that as I share what I believe you've put on my heart, Lord, that which is right will stick, Lord. And that which is just of me will be just put to one side. Lord Jesus, we pray that this morning through your word, we will draw closer to you and that we will know that we are in your presence. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.

Now, people of a certain age, around my age, probably remember the very first McDonald's opening in the country. Yeah, it was a big event. I'd had the opportunity to taste a McDonald's when I was a teenager and I was part of a swimming club and I went over to Sweden and they had one there and I tasted this McDonald's and it was marvellous. But we didn't have one in the country until about the mid-80s. And then 'Joy of Joys'. Do you remember they used to sell root beer?

Well, anyway, I remember going into the first McDonald's that I came across in the country. And I got my order and at the end of it, the girl handed me the bag and she said, have a nice day. And I thought, that's very nice, isn't it? So I said, and you as well. And she went, you what? I said, you have a nice day. What are you on about? I said, well, you just said, have a nice day to me. What will they tell us to say that? And she actually showed me the back of the drink straw dispenser. And there was a little cheat sheet for em, say this to the customer, say that, do this, do that. And at the end of it is, give them an, have a nice day.

He says, well, why do you do it? Why do you say it? Because we're told to. That's what we always say. So I realized that at that point that this girl, and all her colleagues, all they were doing was reading the script. All they were doing was saying the same things that they'd always said, doing the same things they'd always done, going through the motions and not really engaged with it at all. And I feel, and I'm not necessarily saying this is us this morning. I just want this word to be an encouragement to us this morning. But there is a danger that for us as God's people, if we're not careful, we find ourselves saying the same things, doing the same things. And the danger is that if our walk with Jesus isn't intentional, instead of looking to move forward in a relationship with him, we can end up becoming comfortable and settling into just reading the script, saying the same words, doing the same thing, finding ourselves stuck in a rut.

And I can share this honestly because I'm sharing this from experience. There've been many years where I've just let things slide and just survived in my Christian walk. But to sum up the teaching in Philippians chapter 1, Paul is writing from potential death row. It's good for us to keep this in mind here, that Paul is writing to God's people, sat in chains in prison, waiting to be executed. And what he's saying in all different kinds of ways is this, church, keep moving on. Keep going for it. Don't just read the script. This rallying cry from death row is for the sake of Christ. Keep moving forward.

In verse 9, Paul tells us to move on in love and understanding. It says, and this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. In verse 10, he says, move on in discernment and purity, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. In verse 11, he tells us to move on in fruitfulness, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. And then in verse 14, he tells us to move on in courage and boldness. And because of my chains, he says, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

I'm working on that one still. But the heartbeat of Paul from Death Row is this, in every area of your life, break camp and move forward. And the whole message gets summed up in verse 25, where he says, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.

Now here's a man who's experienced incredible suffering. It tells us in verse 14 that he's currently in chains as he's writing this. But if we look in 2 Corinthians 11, Paul gives us more of an insight of what he's had to put up with. He says, I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the 40 lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. And once I was pelted with stones. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and day in the open city. He's not having a good time of it, is he? I have laboured and toiled and often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and I've often gone without food. I've been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face the daily pressure of my concern for all the churches.

That last little sentence makes me laugh because, you know, he's gone through all that and then he says, and to cap it all, I've got to put up with you lot. He's experienced incredible disappointment because people have let him down. In verse 15, we hear that people have preached the gospel for wrong motives. And now with all this in mind, you could imagine Paul saying, you know what, I'm sick of this. I've had enough. I've been let down. I've been deserted. And look where preaching the gospel's got me. I'm stuck in prison awaiting death. But he doesn't say that. He doesn't say settle down in case you end up where I am. He says, at every level, move forward. And as we listen to what Paul has to say to the church in Philippi, we're challenged with three questions.

And from what I know of you as a fellowship, I must admit I am so encouraged by hearing what God is doing with you and how you're stepping out and how you're reaching the community around you. So these three questions, I hope are an encouragement to you. It may well be that you say, yes, that's what we're doing. But if the Lord is speaking to you in another way, fair enough.

The first question is, are we still learning? In verse 9, Paul says, and this is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best. And it's possible to become a Christian, to go through the discipleship course, you get your every day with Jesus, you're really hungry, you can't get in enough of it, you've got all the concordances, you go to every prayer meeting, every Bible study, and then after a while it becomes, your every day with Jesus becomes once in a while with God. And then every so often, if I feel like it, with the Lord, you know, and we settle down and we come to a point where we actually stop learning, stop taking risks, stop moving forward in discipleship.

Discipleship, that's a word that's often associated with new Christians I've found in the past. You know, you get your discipleship courses at church and for the new Christians. But a disciple is someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus and committed to the mission of Jesus. That's not just for new Christians, that's for all of us, isn't it? We're all called to be disciples of Christ, to continue to sit in his presence, to continue learning from him, to continue growing in him. So let's ask ourselves, are we still learning and growing? Or are we still willing to take risks for the sake of Jesus?

I remember when I first became a Christian. This was mid-80s. And I remember going to my very first Spring Harvest, probably about 1985. Has anyone else ever been to Spring Harvest? A few of us. So you know the experience. Now, bearing in mind, I'd only been a Christian four months, but I took my guitar along with me and learning all the new choruses. And at this time, March for Jesus, the very first March for Jesus was just being brought out. So Graham Kendrick was teaching all the songs at Spring Harvest. So we were, I was sat on the grass in front of the chalet one day, just going through these songs and a few people joined us. And it got to a nice little number, about twenty people. And we were singing and praising God.

And someone said, let's go on the streets, with it being March for Jesus. What a great idea. Didn't think anything about it. I didn't think what people are thinking of me or anything. Went out. And by the time we got to the gates of Butlins at Spring Harvest. There were about two to three hundred people behind us and we ended up marching off down Prestatyn High Street. We actually stopped off at an old folks home as well, trying to get two or three hundred exuberant Christians in an old folks home was good. But at the time I just didn't care. I loved Jesus and I wanted everybody to know about it.

But after a few years, I started to realise that I'd come to a place where I was holding back from sharing about Jesus for fear of causing offence or facing ridicule. I don't know if any of you have ever felt like that, you know, I better keep my mouth shut just in case someone kicks off about it or they might think I'm a bit daft sharing Jesus. So you keep quiet. And what happened, I'd become an inoffensive Christian which sadly made me an ineffective Christian. Where it says in Romans 10, verse 14, how then can they call on the one they've not believed in? And how can they believe in the one in whom they've not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? You know, we've got that call to share, just to share Jesus. And I believe God wants to encourage us this morning and stir us up that we might begin to take risks again.

Question 2. Are we still walking in integrity? In verses 10 and 11, Paul talks about us being able to discern what is best and being pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Do you remember what it was like when you first became a Christian? If you were like me, you probably repented of everything. I wanted to get right with God. I probably repented of things that weren't even sin in the 1st place, just to make sure, you know. But again, it's so easy to drift. It's so easy to slip away from that, you know. And after a while, complacency kicks in, compromise kicks in. You know, you start letting things slip. And bear in mind, a lot of this is testimony, really. It's not having a go. It's where my heart has been.

But praise the Lord, it isn't now. We start saying, it doesn't really matter. No one's going to know that I've done this. So, well everyone's doing it. So, you know, no one can say anything about it. No one will know. Or even I'm not going to challenge that behaviour that I see in another person because I don't want to rock the boat. You know, we can allow our integrity slip in that way by just letting things slide. And again, it's because, well, none of us like to create a fuss, do we? And none of us like to cause a scene. But what happens is that we stop moving forward because that sin and compromise hold us down and prevents us from the progress in the faith that Paul's talking about in Philippians chapter 1.

Now, before I retired, I was in the nuclear industry for about 42 years. Again, they started us when we were 12. And every year we had to have a medical. And it was quite a full-blown medical in the early days. It involved x-rays and all sorts of tests. And we had to have a chest x-ray. And there's a story of one of my colleagues who went in for this chest x-ray. He'd never had one before. So the nurse or whoever was taking it handed him this lead apron, which was about 25 to 30 pounds worth of lead. And what he thought, she said, was tie it around your neck. It's supposed to be around his waist. Anyway, she went out to do all the fiddling about with the X-ray and she came back and he's like this. And she just looked at him, took one look and went, no. And it just makes me think that, how many times in our lives have we allowed ourselves to be weighed down with, with compromise, with complacency, with worry, with fear, with anything. We allow ourselves to be weighed down, can't lift our heads up, and God says, no, that's not what I want for you.

I'm glad that I have a family that is quick to pull me up if I have a lapse of integrity. I say I'm glad, a bit tongue in cheek really. It's so annoying. And when we first started the church over in Croft, there was a family joined us. And it was, oh gosh, we'd only been going a month or two. And they invited us to a Halloween party. Now, that was a bit of a dilemma, that was because obviously we don't celebrate Halloween. But on the other hand, I was thinking, I don't want to look like I'm being rude or ignorant. I don't want to put them off because they think we're a bit, because we're putting them down because we're having a, they're having a Halloween party and that. And Sue and I had this real deliberation going on, a real tug of the heartstrings, do we go or don't we go?

And then my daughter, who was... probably about 10 at the time. She said, haven't you ever read Psalm 1? No, I was very impressed, but it turns out that's the only Psalm she knew at the time. Haven't you read Psalm 1? And I had to confess, I hadn't. But what it says is this. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. And basically, she was saying to me, listen, just because they're doing it doesn't mean it's right. And if you go to this Halloween party, you're saying that Halloween parties are okay. So that was a bit challenging, being told off by a 10-year-old, especially when she was right.

She was a funny one because she became a teenager at the age of eight, didn't she? And she's 35 now, she still is. But God's desire is for us to be a people of integrity because the world is watching, isn't it? The amount of times I got challenged at work, I'm coming across really bad here aren't I? But the amount of times I got challenged at work because they'd say, I thought you were supposed to be a Christian, you know. And it just reminds you that we don't have to say anything to be a witness, do we? People are watching our actions, people are watching the way that we respond to things.

Okay, question three. Are we still focusing on Jesus? Philippians 1 shows us that Paul was a real Jesus person. And if you've got your Bible with you, please follow with me on this one. If you open up Philippians 1, we see in verse 1 that Paul talks about servants of Christ Jesus and saints in Christ Jesus. And in verse 2, He talked about grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 6, he talks about the day of Christ Jesus. Verse 8, the affection of Christ Jesus. Verse 10, the day of Christ. Verse 11, righteousness that comes through Christ Jesus. Verse 13, in chains for Christ. Verse 15, preach Christ. Verse 17, preach Christ. Verse 18, Christ is preached. Verse 19, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Verse 20, Christ will be exalted. Verse 21, to live is Christ. Verse 23, be with Christ. Verse 26, joy in Christ Jesus. Verse 27, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Verse 29, granted to you on behalf of Christ.

So in 29 verses, 17 of those verses, Paul is focusing us on Christ. And Paul's whole preoccupation with Jesus is summed up in verse 21 when he says, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. And basically, Paul is saying in Philippians 1, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And is that where our hearts are? I feel like it is for many of us in this room. And I felt it when we first came to this church, that your hearts are for Jesus. And I just want to encourage you, just keep sharing, keep showing that love.

But again, it's possible for us to begin our Christian life saying the same thing, but then we get distracted. It's possible to have our eyes fixed on the big picture of Jesus and then after a while someone in church starts to annoy us. Someone upsets us. Now I know this doesn't happen in your church. Someone irritates us, someone disagrees with us and our focus shifts. It's possible for us to take our eyes off Jesus and fix them on the thing that's negative. You know what I mean? it's the thing that's negative, the thing that's difficult, the thing that's disappointing. And you find yourself in your quiet times, instead of waiting on Jesus, you're thinking, if only I'd have said that to so-and-so. When he said that, I should have said this.

Corrie Ten Boom said this, if you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. But if you look at God, you'll be at rest. That's great. It's a great quote, that, isn't it? If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. And if you look at God, you'll be at rest. Or as the hymn writer says, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim. in the light of his glory and grace.

So if we want to be effective for the kingdom of God, if we hear the heartbeat of Paul in Philippians 1, we need to be a people who are saying, God, I want to keep learning. I don't want to be weighed down by allowing compromise into my life. And thirdly, as the writer to the Hebrews puts it, I want to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.

So in closing, I just want us to come back to where we began. Are we moving on or are we just reading the script? For many of us, I hope that it's been an encouragement that we've been able to say, yes, that's where we're at. That's what we're doing. For some of us, though, it might feel like we have got stuck. It might feel like we're just going through the motions. It may be for many reasons, but we know there's more. We know there's more in our walk to come. And if any of this resonates with you this morning, I believe God's reaching out to you. He wants you to have the opportunity to renew and refresh your relationship with him, to break off those ties that bind you and be set free to soar on wings like eagles.

For some of us, we've sensed a calling in our lives, but we feel like it's stalled or been put on hold. And maybe that verse that I highlighted at the beginning, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will see it through to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. That's for you. It's a welcome reminder that God hasn't finished with you yet. He's saying, I haven't forgotten you. It's time to move forward. Because there's more. Amen. Amen.

Shall we pray? Father, we offer our hearts to you this morning and we invite you to take your place among us. We thank you, Lord, that we have the privilege of being called your people and we thank you that it's your desire for us to walk with you and that you've given us your Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us. And we pray, Lord, that if in this moment we feel stuck, that you will help us to respond to your invite, to take that fresh step with you. For those of us who may be feeling weary or uninspired, Lord, caught in a rhythm that feels more like a standstill, our prayer is that you renew our perspective, Lord, that you restore our first love, that you challenge us and empower us to be effective witnesses for you, to be a radical people for your glory. But Holy Spirit, I pray for each one of us here now, that you will empower us, that you will give us a new sense of boldness, a fresh sense of joy in knowing you, Lord Jesus. And I pray, Lord, that sharing about you, isn't a labour, it isn't a chore, it's an act of joy, an act of love, Lord. And let our lives shine the glory of Jesus, in your precious name, Amen.