← ArchiveSunday, June 10, 2018DateJune 10, 2018Speaker—TextActs 16Passages in this sermonPhilippians 11:51Philippians 1:215:15Philippians 3:135:24Philippians 45:58Romans 1010:19Acts 1626:36Acts 16:1127:02Acts 16:1527:32Acts 16:1627:59TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Music0:30Okay, I know many of you are here today because you are expecting us to be0:59in Leviticus and you invited your friends and you have to hear Leviticus sorry to disappoint you we're not in Leviticus today but we are in Philippians, so if you have your Bibles if you're here regularly, go ahead and mark your Bible in Philippians, we'll be there for several weeks now a wonderful passage of Scripture today. You would expect me to say that every week and I do, I love the Word of God. I love every Word of God1:29there's nothing in this Bible that is not for our good for our correction and for our benefit and so join me in Philippians, it's halfway through your New Testament, so if you look at my Bible, it's probably for you finance and accountants 80%, you're probably going to tell me I'm wrong, but about 80% of the way there so join me in Philippians 1 this morning and while you do, let's pray Lord, as we1:57read your Word we ask that you prepare our minds to to understand Lord, you would prepare our hearts you would open our hearts to to be corrected where we are in sin or to walk where we need to walk but you give us a heart of faith to receive the Word of God Lord, we do not we do not need or want the words of men we want the Word2:27the Word of God so we ask this morning that you give us that through your Spirit in Christ alone we pray Amen and Amen join me in Philippians 1 verse 3 you might be asking is every service like at Bethel full like this yes I pray we already have people that were not baptized this Sunday ready to be baptized in August our schedules aren't working out so praise God for that2:55for that let me just say this we're going to we'll have our invitation now and later if you have not put your faith in Christ you have seen 8, 9, 10 I couldn't see from that vantage point people that stood up and said we have died to our sin and we are raised in new life and this can be yours also so we pray this morning that if you've come in here an unbeliever we want to recognize that we're not scared by that I was once an unbeliever and then God3:24showed me that Christ died for the unbelievers like me and that's his desire for you also that you put your faith in Christ who pursues you as we will see shortly Philippians 1, 3 I give thanks this is Paul writing I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you always praying with joy for all of you in every prayer because of your partnership3:53in the gospel from this day until now I am sure of this that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus indeed it is right for me to think this way about all of you because I have you in my heart and you are all partners with me in grace both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel4:23our new sermon series is simply entitled this he is Lord he is Lord and we are going to unpack that this morning and the next two months we are going to see what does that mean for us how do we live a life if Christ is Lord how do we now live Jesus is Lord now I would call Philippians if you don't know what Philippians is a funny funny sounding book I call Philippians a coffee mug book4:52for the simple reason that it is packed full of phrases that you might see on a coffee mug I mean and the reason it is because there are key verses that very concisely condense the gospel into one coffee mug phrase you might know some of them you look at Philippians 1 21 for me to live as Christ to die as gain you can flip over5:22to Philippians 3 13 brothers and sisters I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it but one thing I do forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus I forget what is behind some of us need to do that today some of you need to forget what was behind and press on5:51to receive the prize that Christ Jesus is offering you I think of Philippians 4 verse 13 that says I am able to do all things through Christ who gives me strength now context is king in scripture so you want to now look in the verses before that and realize that Paul is saying I had a lot and I had nothing I was fighting for my life and I was living it up and in all things I can do6:20all things through Christ who gives me strength but truly the aim of Philippians is not coffee mug heroicism Paul was not saying you know if I could just end up on a coffee mug one day in America I would have it made that's not his goal the goal here is Paul is writing to a church in the city of Philippi you might say who is Philippi who is Philip the town that this man was named after was the6:50was the grandfather actually the father of a man you might have heard of Alexander we call him Alexander the Great so this is the dad of Alexander the Great and he won this territory for the Rome and now Paul is writing to this church on the second missionary journey to the church at Philippi that's why he's writing to the Philippians and Paul loves you can see his love for this church and so what is the context of this7:19of this book and then we will look at Christ our Lord more than any other letter you can see the love of Christ through Paul for this church he deeply loves this community of faith and let me just say this if you don't hear it much I love this church I love pastoring I love pastoring in this church in this community for his glory and for the good7:49the good of the community and for the good of God it's a joy for you to call me shepherd for you some of you call me pastor you don't have a first name you just call me pastor it's a joy I want you to know that it's a privilege to hear that because it means that you know I care and you know that I care about the Lord because I care about the Lord I care about you and together we want to grow in our faith and Paul's heart of a pastor comes out in this book but why is that important because Paul is writing this letter and I want you to8:19you to understand this it's going to set in motion our next several months together Paul is writing from imprisonment he's writing from jail so he's not in his executive office in his mahogany desk he's writing from jail and he's writing to a church now can you imagine your mentor your missionary the one who has birthed this new life in this far territory that's far from Jerusalem and now the man that you've been looking up to is in jail what are you going to do there's8:49there's apprehension there's tension the man that we've looked up to is now going to spend the rest of his life in jail what do we do and Paul is writing to them to encourage them he said although I'm in jail and I'm dying the gospel is greater than my life that's why Paul can say look dude if I live it's Christ and church don't worry if I die it is gain what do you do with a man like that if you're9:18if you're the world and you say we hate Christ we're going to kill you done gain I win we're not going to kill you we're going to let you live okay to live is Christ this should be our mission why do we fret so much what is the world going to do to us kill us let it be let us live let it be Christ Paul is reminding the church don't give up don't grow discouraged death is9:47death is not the end jail is not a struggle as we're going to see shortly and Paul this mighty church figure facing death leaves this local congregation with this core truth Jesus is Lord Jesus is Lord so much so that 15 times in this short book Paul uses that phrase Jesus is Lord and it's vital for our relationship with the father even today some of10:17some of you know this verse Romans chapter 10 and verse 9 if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead then you will be saved so is Lordship fundamental to salvation yes yes it is fundamental to salvation we cannot embrace Jesus as Savior and deny10:46and deny his Lordship in our life you cannot listen to this because Baptists we struggle with this right we have some of us have probably said well long ago Jesus was my Savior and now I have made him Lord but what the verse God's word says if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead then we will be saved the Lordship and the11:16and the salvation and the Savior of the Messiah are intricately woven together you cannot say I made Jesus Savior and later accept him as Lord no Lord no Savior no Savior no salvation so with that then what is the Lordship of Christ that's important what is the Lordship of Christ if Paul says Jesus is Lord then what does that mean so let's look at three aspects of Jesus Lordship before we look at the rest of11:46of the text so verse one with me Paul is writing your standard ancient near eastern letter greeting I mean most of you receive these right so standard greeting Paul Timothy servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints now he's not writing to a pro football team in New Orleans he's not writing to a high school in St. Clair County let let let me say this if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ you are a saint and when you die we're not going to put12:16put you in a gold portrait with a little halo shining object above your head you're already a saint you don't have to die to receive that sainthood and I cannot confer sainthood on you you're a saint to the saints in Christ Jesus that's the joy of following Christ who are in Philippi including the overseers and deacons grace to you and peace from God our father and Lord Jesus Christ so very quickly three thoughts12:46thoughts about the lordship of Jesus in your life first the lordship means it is the relationship in which the Christian lives lordship is the relationship in which the Christian lives look at verse one Paul says to the saints in Christ Jesus to the saints in Christ Jesus for Jesus to be lord this is now the relationship in which you live in which I live John Moitier says it13:16it this way to be in Christ is to possess what is spoken of as full salvation everything necessary everything for your past your present and your future have been given in Jesus Christ so if everything in your past if everything in your present if everything in your future is given in Jesus Christ what are you lacking nothing right is there anything13:45anything you can think of that we lack outside of Jesus Christ no the Lord is our shepherd we shall not want praise God that he his lordship is a relationship in which the Christian lives we can now sing the song the beautiful song in Christ alone my hope is found he is my light my strength my song in Christ alone lordship is a relationship14:15relationship in which you now live to all the saints in Christ Jesus praise God for this lordship secondly lordship is in which the Christian serves look at verse one Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus so not only is lordship meaning that Jesus has provided everything you need but lordship means now for you that you are a servant of Christ14:45Christ Jesus we are his servant and his alone responsive obedience characterizes us so what characterizes me as a Christ follower obedience Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it this way unless one obeys a man cannot believe unless you show me someone who does not obey Christ I'll show you someone who does not believe because lordship means that we have put ourselves as servants of15:15of the king no one can partake of the Christ like life without serving him look what Paul says Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus are you serving we you are in a church I want you to know this that you have ample opportunities to serve let me highlight one of those on Friday nights every Friday night we have people that serve our community especially those broken in addiction or struggling with the change of substance abuse celebrate recovery and every15:45every week they're meeting needs that's one way that you can serve we had a group of people that met with me this morning for our next steps class wanting to become covenant members of Bethel and I told them as I tell everyone God has not called you here to sit he's called you here to serve and I I say this if you don't want to serve here this is not the place for you it's not and you say where can I serve it's not my job to tell you where that's the holy16:15holy spirit job because he's gifted you but lordship means God that I will serve you now let me just say this as a dad not as a pastor not as a church person as a dad some of you have invested in my little daughter and son in the nursery and I don't even know who you are but as a three year they come back singing songs and verses because you have put the joy so as a dad let me just say thank you for serving our kids thank you so when one day when they're baptized you16:45you can stand up with me and we celebrate we say God look what you have done because we have put ourselves under the lordship of Jesus Christ it's a relationship in which you live it's the one who you serve and thirdly look at verse two grace youth are you awake God our father and Lord Jesus Christ17:14Christ lordship is now meaning he is the giver from whom the Christian receives because he is lord he gives us good gifts he is a giver of grace he is the giver of mercy he is a giver of everything that you need look at what Paul says grace to you peace from God our father and Lord Jesus Christ thank God that when we put ourselves under the lordship of Jesus he is now our heavenly giver he17:44he is our heavenly giver if you're here today and you're in need guess what if he if God is your heavenly giver through Christ what can you do to someone who gives you can ask he already knows ask boldly and but be bold and say Lord you are our giver give me what I need A.W. Tozer says this about being under the lordship of Christ it is either all18:14all of Christ or none of Christ I believe that we need to preach again a whole Christ to the world a Christ who does not need our apologies who will not be divided a Christ who will either be lord of all or will not be the lord at all I could not have said it any better is Christ lord of your life and if you're honest and if I'm18:43I'm honest there are parts of my life where I want to wrestle back the lordship we want to give God the easy parts the parts that we need him to clean up but the parts that we hold firm we say God you can touch anything but this that's not lordship are you under the lordship of Christ the embrace and the surrender of Jesus as Lord ushers in new life unsurpassing joy grace peace and eternal gospel partnerships so19:12so with that I want us to look at the gospel partnerships that's the message today that's the last half of the message today gospel partnerships look at verse 6 with me Paul says I am sure of this now where is Paul writing from he's in prison he's in jail I am sure of this he who started a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of19:42of Christ Jesus in Christ you participate in the gospel you participate in the gospel say it another way Christ works now in you Christ is working in you I'll say it this way God doesn't create bridges to nowhere before coming to Alabama I pastored in a town called Gramercy on the Mississippi River you might have never heard of Gramercy but has anyone ever had Zapp's potato chips okay they're made in Gramercy Gramercy20:12Gramercy is known for two things now three but two things Zapp's potato chips and sugar refinery what a healthy place to live like the church was between the sugar refinery and Zapp's potato chips factory so that was an awesome place to live but the town is on the Mississippi River and because of the dangerous crossing of the ferries in 1976 many people over 70 people died because a ferry hit a barge and they20:42they sank and so they decided to build a bridge the veterans bridge and they built it in I believe completed in 1995 across the Mississippi River connecting the west bank with the east bank here's the problem with that they did not connect the south side it would be the west side with the highway there was a bridge but it was connected to river road but not the highway and so it affectionately for almost 20 years was called the bridge to nowhere21:12nowhere it was 3,000 feet long 165 feet tall and it went to the other side of the river but it really connected to nothing and in 2008 we were actually there at the time finally they connected it on both ends however it took the power company several months to go a mile in distance to connect the railroad crossings so they could not use21:41use the bridge to nowhere because even though it was connected to the highway you could not cross the railroad track and thankfully in 2008 this bridge nowhere was completed and it had a purpose some of you today feel like you're the bridge of nowhere you feel like God has started this work in your life and a lot of the struggles you've overcome but you're just spinning your wheels and I believe that this might be the church of Philippi because God has worked in them and this amazing work through the Holy Spirit22:11Spirit but yet their mentor the one they look up to is in jail and they're thinking God how could you do this have you ever said that or asked that God how could you let so and so pass away God why why would you let me have cancer God how dare you afflict me with this God this tragedy and22:39and maybe you feel like you are the bridge to nowhere here is Paul's encouragement in your life I am sure of this that he who began a good work is faithful to complete it and if you feel like there is nowhere in your life to go I want you to know that God has not given up on you I'm thankful that God planned for our salvation he prepared for our salvation and the plan23:09plan was executed to perfection the plan was executed for true perfection this word began started here means to inaugurate to a point where a decisive and deliberate act when Christ is working in you you participate in the gospel let me just say this Jesus was the plan in your life all along Jesus was the plan God didn't wake up one day and say man these23:38these people are sinful what do I do Jesus is the plan and if God is prepared for you if he sent his son to die for you don't we think that he would complete you so don't buy the lie that God is going to leave you unfinished he's not God took the initiative for your sake I'm thankful that my salvation is not based on how I feel or based on me taking the initiative because tomorrow I'm going to feel differently than I did today God it was God24:08God who began the good work in us that we could be participants in the gospel praise God for that truth not only does the power of the cross begin your participation with the father it continues your transformation look at verse six again I am sure this that he who started a good work in you will carry it to completion when until the day of Christ24:36Christ Jesus God today God is putting the finishing touches on your life and I love what Alec Mautier says about this he's a biblical scholar he says it this way he says God is working to a schedule in your life and the schedule is to the day of Jesus Christ here's the truth God's schedule is not always your schedule right sometimes we feel like God why are you working25:06working on the department of transportation schedule like this bridge has been built years ago and there's nothing God where you promised me that you would work in my life and God I just don't see it and God is saying I am working trust me because I am sure of this he who began a good work in you will do what he will carry it on to completion God is putting the finishing touches25:36touches on your life do you trust him God does not create bridges to nowhere he does not create bridges to nowhere and he he will call you and being in Christ is not a passive spectator sport it is active living and he calls you to participate in the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ what a life transforming truth that we participate in the gospel some you wake up we participate right we don't just watch secondly this Jesus26:06Jesus saves us now if we participate in the gospel Jesus saves us to partner in the gospel if we participate in the gospel God saves us now to partner in the gospel have you ever wondered who Paul is writing to in verse one he says to all of the saints now you can write this down you can read and on the second missionary journey he goes to this town of Philippi and in Acts26:36Acts chapter 16 you can read the events of this missionary journey but we know that probably three people in Acts are in this church so when Paul is writing to the saints of Philippi he is writing to these three people and I want to share how Paul is participating with these people in the gospel the first is Lydia the second is a fortune teller and the third is a jeweler so Acts 16 11 if you want to follow along there I encourage you27:06you not to read it now but you can read it later when you go home Acts 16 11 Lydia was most likely the first convert in Europe she was most likely the first European Christian the world has ever known Lydia was wealthy driven intellectual and a God fearer who opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying in Acts 16 15 so much so she was very wealthy she was a27:35a seller of purple fabric she became a leader in the church Lydia this intellectual wealthy lady was a partner in the gospel the second partner that Paul is writing to not only Lydia a wealthy intellectual someone we will strive we want to strive to be as Americans but secondly there's this crazy slave girl in Acts 16 16 you say why is she crazy she had28:04had a unique demonic gift she could tell the future now let me just say this if you go to fortune tellers often most of those are a sham and you're wasting your money I I rather you give money to gospel purposes than throw it down the sink if you want someone to give money to give it to me and I'll use it for the Lord I promise and I will tell you your future right if that's what you want we'll28:32we'll open God's word and we very clearly see the plan for God the second is this if you are really into fortune and that should scare you to death because it's demonic right it's not a sham it's not a fortune cookie it is demonic and it is real and we see that this young woman had29:02had this gift and she was making a lot of money for her masters you could name your price how many of you have a demonic girl around at your house that can tell the future and that's29:19she was giving them their demonic actual fortune and she was following Paul around we see him chapter 16 she was following Paul around she was saying loudly this man surely is from Jesus Christ and eventually Paul gets tired of her and turns around and says stop you crazy demonic slave girl I rebuke you in the name of Jesus and guess what happens to the demon when the demons hear about the lordship of Jesus Christ they29:48they have no choice but to cower in submission and she is free from her demonic oppression she is radically saved and she is now a partaker in the gospel here's the problem when you take someone's income away the slaves the masters were mad Paul goes to jail because their meal ticket is no longer demon possessed so we have Lydia this wealthy intellectual lady we have this crazy30:18crazy demonic slave girl who was saved and these are two of the partakers in the gospel the third partaker is the jailer in act 16 so let's just call this guy what he is he's a blue collar ex military man who took pride in his job this is the guy this is the Navy seal that when they throw Paul in jail and they say watch him he's like that's not good enough we're going to torture this person so he puts him up in stocks and so he goes above and beyond what he needs to do here's what happens they throw Paul in jail and30:48and you know Paul you can't kill him because that's gain you can't let him live because that's Christ and so what's Paul doing in jail he busts out in song right I don't know what he's singing just as I am or something so he's singing he's being tortured and in jail and he's singing and as he's singing the Holy Spirit begins to work and there's an earthquake and the chains fall off the doors open and jailer looks around and says oh no my people have fled and the jailer is going to31:18to kill himself let me just say the jailer doesn't have to kill himself but he wants to kill himself I believe because he's a man committed to the principle of his job and if I have failed in my job I have no reason to live I might as well die and so this blue collar hard working ex military guy is about to kill himself and Paul who has not escaped says don't do it the same Jesus that saved this wealthy intellectual lady the same Jesus that saved this31:48this crazy demonic young girl is the same Jesus that will save you and he believed in the Bible says he and his entire household believe now can I just share with you if I'm going to start a church I might choose Lydia I'm probably not going to choose the crazy young girl demonic possession you you guys stay over there probably not going to choose the blue collar guy who's a little crazy right you32:18you tell him look do this and he just goes over and above keep these people in jail he's going to torture them but look what the gospel is doing in this church breaking down barriers and so you have a rich lady with a blue collar worker and somewhere in between you have this crazy demonic young slave girl who has been freed and this is the power of the gospel and I would say that everyone in this room today fits somewhere in that spectrum and32:45and I'll let you choose who you are maybe we have billionaires here maybe millionaires and you say man God has given me more than I could ever want I want you to know that if you don't know Jesus you don't have what you need you need Jesus and there is no money that will give you happiness it's only Jesus Christ maybe you're the blue collar you say I take pride in my work well I want you to take more pride in Jesus than your work jailer and maybe you're here and you say man my33:15my life feels like it's demon possessed I've been in drugs and alcohol and there have been people fighting I've been homeless and all of this the gospel breaks down those walls you can be a partaker in that and the word for partnership here used in verses five and seven is the word koinonia which means fellowship partnership and communion and shortly without labels if33:44if you're rich you don't come forward because you're rich you come forward because Jesus Christ has made you rich if you're poor you don't come forward because you're poor you come forward because Christ died for you and he made you rich with the gospel if you've had a rough life you don't come forward as someone who's had a rough life you come forward as someone who's been redeemed and loved by the God who loves you if you're fatherless you don't come forward as someone who's fatherless you come forward as someone who has a new father in Jesus34:13Jesus Christ and on and on we come here as one we come here with our labels stripped away and we come here in the power and through the partnership of the gospel that's the power of communion that's the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gospel partnerships though listen necessitate that you share the gospel gospel and partnerships necessitate that you share the gospel Alec Mortyer again I've quoted him a lot today but he says those34:43those who possess the gospel will propagate it and I want to end simply with an illustration last two weeks if you were not here last week you missed a awesome week we had six baptisms last week and I lost count this week people coming to faith in Christ and let me just kind of run through the list really quick church the power of Christ is working in you for the salvation of others Roger baptized last week because of the influence of his friends35:13friends and family Mary and DeWitt baptized last week because of the invitation of a friend and neighbor gentleman baptized last week the influence of reading the word of God Anna and Andrew baptized last week because they put their faith in Christ because of their family and their church Evan baptized today because he went to a Bible study and the word of God transformed his heart Mary baptized today because of her family35:42family and I would say because of the influence of her godly father there I'll just believe it at that Melody baptized today because of the influence and the power of worship in her life transforming her Haley baptized today because of Christ transforming in worship Delancey baptized today because two people from this church invested months in her life Natalie baptized today because of her family baptized by her dad Zoe baptized today because people poured into her on Wednesday night and the influence of her36:12her family church why do I tell you that share the gospel and watch the Holy Spirit work share the gospel you say well I am not trained yes you are if you have the Holy Spirit in you you have training that money cannot buy and no church can provide you know what evangelism sounds like I was a sinner and I was saved by Jesus and he can do the same the end confess36:42confess him as Lord believe and he will transform you through the Holy Spirit gospel partnership means that Christ is working through you church are you partnering in the gospel this is the power to those who believe verse six I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you is faithful to carry it to completion we're going to have a time of response I37:11I welcome you to pray where you are to come forward if you want to pray to know Jesus you are walking a destructive path to hell and today that can change and if you confess37:40confess him as Lord and believe in your heart there is this idea that there's a savior who is not a lord that's not a savior that's an idol and churches create that you might have created that but is Jesus Lord of your life if he's not I ask you where you sit right now don't wait put your faith and trust in Christ repent of your sins turn from your sins ask him to forgive you through the death38:10death of Jesus he died for your sake that he would give maybe you're here right now and as I've been preaching you're thinking of things that you are struggling with God is Jesus is Lord but you still struggle I ask you to spend time and say God I'm tired of fighting when I shouldn't be fighting let me give it to you you are Lord so be Lord I'm tired of trying to fight for the throne maybe you're here today and38:40and you're struggling because you feel like you're the bridge to nowhere you feel like God started a work in your life a long time ago and he's38:55you will not leave you uncompleted he is faithful and just and will carry you to completion you are on God's schedule and he will carry you to completion until the day of Jesus Christ do not lose hope and today may God encourage you through the watering of his word participate in the gospel be a partner in the gospel church share Christ and watch the Holy Spirit work let's prayMore sermons on Acts →
