Alright, if you would, turn with me to the book of Philippians. We'll be back in Philippians together this morning. Philippians chapter 1, verses 3 to 11. I thank my God and all my remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel. For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Let's pray. Father, as we do each and every week, each and every time we come together for worship, we now go to Your Word together. We come to worship You because of what You have revealed to us in Your Word. And so to that end, we do pray that You would open our hearts to worship, that You would open our hearts to what You would teach us through Your Word. I pray that you would keep me faithful to your word. Help me to say what you would have said to your people this morning. In all this we ask in the precious name of Christ. Amen. So we are continuing on in our within a series, if you will, our series that we've called Reasons for Joy as we move through the book of Philippians together. And we are seeing some amazing reasons to have joy for the Christian from just this introduction that Paul writes as he writes this letter to the Philippians. The first truth that we looked at, verses 3-5, is He had joy in their common partnership. Specifically, He remembered them, He prays for them, and He participates with them in their common partnership in the Gospel. Secondly, in verses 6-7, we saw His joy in their common salvation, as He looked at the source of their salvation, the guarantee of their salvation, and then the outworking of that salvation as they joined with Him, both in His imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel. Last week, we saw His joy in their common affection, as we looked at the mind, the heart, the quality, and the desire of true biblical love. All of these are tremendous truths in their own right, but there is even more that Paul is joyful about, and that we should also be joyful about as he thinks about these Philippian believers. He has joy in their common sanctification. Joy in their common sanctification. Sanctification is an important term for the Christian. It has to do with our continued growth into Christ-likeness. When we talk about being sanctified or sanctification, that usually is what we mean. There are a couple of ways to understand sanctification. The first way is simply by the word sanctify. To sanctify something means to make it holy, means to set it apart. And at conversion, we are set apart unto God. Positionally, that's the way theologians talk about it, positionally, we are sanctified, we are made holy, we are declared to be righteous. When we become a Christian, that is what happens. And the reason that it happens is only because of the work of Christ on our behalf. We are clothed in His righteousness. We are made holy by His holiness. We are justified because of what He has done, not because of what we do. This is one way that the Scripture talks about the Christian's sanctification. For example, in Ephesians 1, verse 4, Paul says, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. That's sanctification. We are made holy. We are made blameless before Him because of Christ. Colossians chapter 1 verse 22, Paul says, He is now reconciled, of course that's Christ, He is now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him. We are made holy. We are declared to be holy. We are set apart unto God because of the finished work of Christ. But there's another way to consider sanctification, and it's what I've already said, it entails our continued growth as Christians. It entails our continued conformity into Christ-likeness. That's another way to understand sanctification. The first way is considered positional holiness, or positional sanctification. This is termed practical holiness, or practical sanctification, or progressive sanctification. Those are a couple of different terms that are used to describe this method of sanctification, or this understanding of sanctification. We know that we are saved, but we also know that as we are saved because of the work of Christ, God gives us new hearts. God gives us new desires. He takes out the heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. We are reborn. We are made spiritually alive. And from that point forward, He, in His sovereign power, by the power of the Spirit, conforms us more and more into the image of His Son. For those of Him who foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son in order that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8, 28. And also, Scripture uses the term holy in this way. For example, in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 17, He's talking about fleeing unrighteousness. He's talking about divisions in the body, and not being an instrument of unrighteousness. And He says, if anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. In context, he's talking about the pursuit of holiness. In Romans 12, verse 1, he says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. He's talking about the Christian's pursuit of holiness, progressive sanctification, being conformed more and more into the image of Christ. So the Thessalonians, he says in 1 Thessalonians 2.10, you are witnesses and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. Now of course, Paul there is not professing for himself perfection, moral perfection. What he is saying is that we were upright among you, we did not mistreat you, we did not We did not try to swindle you. We were holy. We pursued in the way that we preached the Gospel, in the way that we came to you, was in a pursuit of holiness. As I said, this understanding is known as practical sanctification, progressive sanctification as opposed to positional. And it entails our growth in pursuit of holiness from a reborn heart that is now inclined toward God and is now inclined toward the things of God where it was not before. So all that sets up our text because Paul here is talking about his joy in their progressive sanctification in the power of the Spirit. He has joy. He rejoices. in their sanctification. He rejoices in the evidence that they are becoming more and more like Christ. And He rejoices in that. So the first thing He mentions as He rejoices in their sanctification is sanctified decision. He prays for them to have sanctified decisions. So that, verse 10, so that you may approve what is excellent. So that. Why the so that? What's the so that? That connects to the previous verses. It's my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent. Remember that from last week. Love is what? Love is just. Love is judicious. Biblical love determines right and wrong. Biblical love makes a judgment between righteousness and unrighteousness. Biblical love makes decisions between truth and error. And on the basis of that, He says, I want that type of love to abound in you with all knowledge and discernment. Why? So that you may approve what is excellent. To approve something there means to test it. to examine it, to try it, to take something and place it under the microscope of biblical discernment and biblical knowledge to the end that you will be able to approve and know what is excellent. It's a decisiveness for what is right and holy and just versus what is unrighteous and unholy and unjust. It is a decisiveness for what is true versus what is false. Literally, to approve what is excellent means to approve of something that is of greater value, of more value, of higher value. It means that you look at the choice between two different things, and you're able to determine which of those two things are of better value for you as you pursue holiness and pursue Christlikeness. You're able to determine which of those two things more align with God's will for you as a believer. Which one is better? Which one is of higher value? The NIV translation is helpful here. The NIV says this, so that you may be able to discern what is best. That's the connotation of what's going on here. So notice the progression of Paul's thought. It's moved from common affection, that's love for Christ, that manifests itself in the love for each other, It's moved from that common affection into a common mind that makes right and holy decisions out of love for God and love for neighbor. This is not merely discussing a head knowledge, that we just simply know what is right and wrong. That would be verse 9 if it was all by itself. Just simply knowing in your mind and in your heart what is right and wrong. But when you add verse 10 into the mix, what you see is that Paul expects that coming out of a heart of love for God in verse 9 will be a people who make proper, discerning, knowledgeable decisions. And then in verse 10, He expects that these people will live in accord with what they know and what they can discern. He expects people who will act upon their discernment. In our study through the book of James, you remember one of the things we said about biblical wisdom is what? True biblical wisdom is not just having the knowledge, but acting upon that knowledge. Living in accord with that knowledge. That is what biblical wisdom is. And that is what Paul is praying for them here. Remember, that's the setup in verse 9. I'm praying that your love may abound with knowledge and discernment so that you may approve what is excellent. We make sanctified decisions in this life. We put everything to the test. We move with those decisions that look to be of more value when it comes to knowing and doing the will of God for our lives. Now how do we know? What's the ground? What's the microscope? What's the magnifying glass? How do we examine two choices, two decisions? And the answer is the Word of God. The ground for all knowledge and practice is the Word of God. Paul told Timothy that. Timothy is the young pastor that he's left in Ephesus. And he tells him in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. It's an appeal to the authority of Scripture. And it's an appeal to the usefulness of Scripture, the profitability of Scripture, for all of these things, for teaching, reproof, correction, training in righteousness. And then he says in verse 17, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." Those verses in 2 Timothy chapter 3 are not only an appeal to the authority, to the absolute sovereign authority of Scripture over the life of the believer, they are also an appeal to the absolute sufficiency of Scripture for the life of the believer. So verse 17 says, the man of God may be what? Complete and equipped for every good work. There is not a decision that you can make in life that the Scripture cannot guide you into. There is not a decision that you will ever have to make that the Scriptures cannot inform you about which path to take. There is no fork in the road that you will ever have that the Scripture cannot guide you into making the right decision. That's what Paul is telling Timothy. The man of God may be equipped, complete and equipped for every single good work. Not for 99% of them. Not 80-20. Not 70-30. 100% of the things that you could do in this life that God would consider pleasing to Him can be informed by the Scripture. So many are looking for, or listening for, maybe is a better term, this still small voice in the back of their head to guide them into all knowledge. And I've done this in my early days as a Christian as well. You pray for signs. You pray for lightning flashes or whatever the case is. You pray for something to give you a sign. Give me a sign. Give me a closed door. Give me this. Give me that. And we're always looking for these experiential ways of discerning the will of God for our lives. But the fact of the matter is, the reality is we don't need any of that stuff. All we need is God's Word. And it will guide us. into all knowledge, and it will guide us into holiness. It will guide us into every good work. And it will equip us for them. So flowing out of love that is knowledgeable and discerning, last week, flows sanctified decision making, approving what is excellent. Knowing the Word of God, looking at two different choices and saying, I know what is right, I know what is of more value, I know what I need to do. Once we make those determinations, once we make those decisions, those sanctified decisions, we get into sanctified disposition. Sanctified disposition or mindset. The end of verse 10, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ." Once again, a continued progress of our sanctification, a progression. Love abounds more and more with knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Pure, of course, we know what that is, purity. Another way of translating that is sincerity. It comes from a root word in the Greek that means to hold something up and examine it via sunlight. And as you examine it under the brightest light available, you can tell its authenticity. A little comment from one of my commentaries. In ancient Rome, fine pottery was relatively thin and fragile, and often developed cracks while being fired. Unscrupulous shops would fill the cracks with a hard, dark wax, which would be concealed when the object was painted or glazed, but then it would melt when the pottery was filled with something hot. In ordinary light, the deception was usually undetectable. But, when held up to the sunlight, it was clearly exposed, because the wax appeared darker. Reputable dealers would often stamp their products, Senne Serra, without wax, as a guarantee of high quality. It means that you are able to hold things up to the light, and tell what is less profitable, tell what is less desirable to God, tell what is unholy, tell what is deceptive. That's purity, that's sincerity. But secondly, he says that you may be not only pure, sincere, but blameless. Literally, it means one who is not led into sin. And it means someone who does not lead others into sin. You're not easily led into sin, and you don't willingly and knowingly and haphazardly lead others into sin. Paul isn't calling for some sort of moral perfection here. This is the same Paul of Romans 7 who understands the still moral imperfection, the still fleshly man that battles against the man that we are, the new creature that we are, the old creature rises up. But what he is calling is for us to be people who can see right and wrong and are prone to make the right decisions. We're not easily led into temptation. We're not easily led into sinfulness. We're not easily led into unrighteousness. That's what this word is. calling for. Our lives are free from impurity. If someone were to hold us up to the light, would there be imperfections? Sure, but they would be small, they would be different, they would be the kind of imperfections that happen from sudden outbursts of our old flesh, not premeditated sinfulness and easily led into constant temptation and drawn back into our old ways as we were before we were converted to Christ. And once again, what's the light that we hold ourselves up to? What's the light that we shine upon our lives? It's the light of Scripture. The light of Scripture. Psalm 119, 105. Your Word is what? A lamp. to my feet and a light to my path. It's a lamp. It guides us. It shows us the right way. It shows us where the treacherous potholes are. It shows us where the road maybe starts to veer off a little bit and keeps us on the right path. It shows us the signs. It shows us where we should go. It shows us where we should walk. In Hebrews, it's described as a two-edged sword that pierces to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. No creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. It's living, it's active, it's sharp, it's two-edged. If it misses on the first swing, it will get you on the second. It's two-edged. What's the bottom line of all of this? What's the bottom line that Paul is calling us to when he calls us to purity and praise that we would be pure and blameless for the day of Christ? He's calling us to a life of honesty and a life of integrity as Christians. You know what integrity is. I've heard it described before, doing what's right when no one else is looking, right? It's easy to do what's right when everybody's kind of watching you. Doing what's right when no one else is looking. That's a life of integrity. A life of integrity is a life that is lived that matches the beliefs that we say we have. That's the life of integrity. Do you believe Christ? Do you believe He is who He said He is? Do you believe He is what He says He was and is and is to come? Do you believe in heaven? Do you believe in the reward? Do you believe in when He says, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven for where your heart is? for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also? Do you believe Jesus when He says to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him? Do you believe Him? Then live in light of what you say you believe. That's what Paul is calling us to here. Sanctified decisions that lead to sanctified disposition that lead to sanctified deeds. Good works. That's verse 11. Sanctified decisions. lead to a sanctified disposition, which leads to sanctified deeds filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. Filled with fruit of righteousness. That's the same kind of word picture that Jesus Himself used. I am the true vine. My Father is the vinedresser. Each branch in me that does not bear fruit is taken away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." If you abide in Christ, If you claim to abide in Christ, if you claim to hold fast to Christ, to believe in Christ, to have received Christ, whatever terminology you want to use, if you claim to belong to Him as a Christian, as a Christ follower, then you abide in the vine and you will bear fruit. Whenever we talk about good works in the Christian life, we talk about good deeds, good works, fruit, and we talk about how they are necessary, what we mean is not that they're necessary in order for someone to be saved, and we also don't mean that they're necessary in order for someone to remain saved. What we mean is that they are the supernatural outpouring of what it means to be connected to the vine. They happen. They happen in very different ways, but they happen. They spring from a heart that is connected to the root of Christ. That's why John can talk about love like he talks about love in his first epistle. Whoever says he loves God but doesn't love his brother doesn't love God. Why? Because love for brother is a necessary consequence of love for God. If you don't love your brother, you don't love God no matter how much you say you do. That's John's point. It's a necessary consequence. And good works are a necessary consequence of salvation that is provided only by Christ. That's Paul's point here in these verses. We are to love in a way, in verse 9, that they produce good decisions that change our disposition, in verse 10, that leads to deeds in verse 11. That's the progression. As I said, there are no such thing as fruitless Christians. Fruit grows from the root of Christ. Now how important are they? Am I speaking out of turn and saying that there are no such thing as, or there is no such thing as a fruitless Christian? Listen to how Paul talks about our salvation in Ephesians chapter two. Beginning in verse eight, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Now notice, salvation is not of works, so that no man can boast, it is the gift of God. But then what does he say in verse 10? For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Good works. Natural outgrowth of salvation that is the gift of God, of the grace that is given. So what does this fruit look like? We hear about fruit all the time. What does fruit look like? Well, first off, the fruit is spiritual in nature. It's primarily spiritual in nature. Galatians 5, 22-23, the fruit of the Spirit is what? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. It's the fruit of the Spirit. It's spiritual in nature. And every single one of those is inward spiritual experience that flow from a relationship with Christ. Fruit isn't measured by external things. Success does not mean fruitfulness. Wealth does not mean fruitfulness. Health does not mean fruitfulness. What measures fruitfulness is the manifestation of the character of Christ in you. That is what fruitfulness is. Which is why Jesus said, you'll know false teachers by their what? Fruit. You can't simply measure by external means. Saul was the kind of person that men judged on based on what he looked like. David was the kind of person that God judged based on what was inside. He was a man after God's own heart. David's fruit measured by God was measured by his internal characteristics. Saul's fruit measured by men was measured by external characteristics. We know how well it went with Saul as king. But it is not only spiritual, there is a horizontal dynamic to this fruit. From the spiritual, this fruit shows itself horizontally. Let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Good works toward our neighbor is an aspect of this type of fruit that Jesus is talking about there in Matthew chapter 5 and that Paul is talking about here in Philippians. In fact, flipping ahead in Philippians in chapter 4 verse 17, he said, not that I seek the gift, he's talking about the gift that they sent to him, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. Good deeds, good works. They love Paul and they send him a love offering. And he calls it the fruit that will increase to their credit. Romans 15-28, when therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, sealed to them this fruit, I will leave for Spain by way of you. Notice, all this is done for others. And it flows from a heart that is connected to the root of Christ. Thirdly, this fruit is unique for each believer. We're one body, right? One spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one body of Christ with many parts. Some are hands, some are feet, some are mouths, some are eyes, some are ears. But the fruit of the Spirit, which is given to all believers, will manifest itself horizontally in very different ways. We will serve each other in very different ways. So the fruit is unique in each believer. Also, the Scripture talks about fruit as winning others to Christ. Jesus said in John 4.36, Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life. Paul calls his converts in Achaia, his fruits in 1 Corinthians 16.15. The fruit of winning others to Christ as a result of abiding in Christ. You get that? The fruit of winning others to Christ as a result of abiding in Christ. Evangelism, sharing the gospel with others, sharing the gospel with our friends, with our family, with our neighbors to the ends of the world, Evangelism is about first abiding in Christ and bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. If you abide in Christ, people will notice and they'll want to know. Many times you have to be intentional in talking, but if you're abiding in Christ, if you're abiding in the vine, it will be natural for you to talk about Him. We talk about what we most love, right? We talk about what most excites us. We talk about what most gets our heart pumping. So does Christ excite you? Do you abide in Him? Do you see opportunities in your conversations to talk about the Gospel, to talk about Jesus? Talk about your love for Him and His love for you? That while you were a sinner, Christ died for you. And He has come to seek and save the lost. We all know lost people. We all know people who need Him. Winning others to Christ is about us first abiding in the vine. It's not just about running around town with your Bible thumping everybody in the head. It's about abiding in Christ. Living our lives in light of that abiding. So that's fruit, the good works that are born out of a renewed heart and a renewed mind. So we've got sanctified decisions that lead to sanctified disposition that leads to sanctified deeds. What's the last in the chain? Sanctified desire. Sanctified desire to the glory and praise of God. You know why you're still here? You are still here. You are still alive. to glorify God. That is why you're still here. You ever wondered, why am I still here? What's the purpose of life? What's the meaning of life? You are here to glorify God and to praise the glory of His grace. The chief end of man is to glorify God and to fully enjoy Him forever. That is the chief end of man. according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Ephesians 1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, verse six, to the praise of his glorious grace. That's all prepositional phrases. To the praise of the glory of the grace of God. That's why you were saved. That's why you were redeemed. That's why you were made spiritually alive in order to praise His grace. He goes on in verse 12 and 14 in Ephesians 1 to talk about the glory of God. The glory of God. You really get the impression that Paul considers praising the glory of the grace of God a big deal. Because it is. That is what God desires from us. The glory and the praise of God. Remember what we've said about the glory of God. His holiness is the sum total of all His attributes. That's His holiness. So the sum total of all of His attributes, love, and peace, and righteousness, and wrath, and justice, all of this bound up together is the holiness of God and is far more wonderful than anything we could ever consider with our puny minds. and His glory is that holiness on display. If the holiness is the fire, then the glory is the light and the heat that it gives off. It is His holiness put on display. And the praise of His glory is the acknowledgement of His glory and the exaltation of His people in response to the beauty and majesty of His glory. Exaltation, praise, adoration. That is what praise is. We exalt in what we see of God. And we praise Him for it. And we do good works. Remember Matthew 5, that they may see your good deeds and give glory to the Father in heaven. The point of our good deeds in this world, in this life, is not our own glory. The point of our working, of our good deeds, of our desire to love neighbor, is that God would be glorified in us. And that's our desire. which really requires a sanctified disposition because we're trained and bent to do everything for ourselves. We're selfish people. It's very hard to think about doing something for the blessing of someone else, even God. But that's why we work, that's why we move, that's why we live and move and have our being for God. So last week we had this sanctified common love, common affection that leads to sanctified decisions, that leads to a sanctified disposition, that leads to sanctified deeds, that result in the sanctified desire of the glory of God. What's the point of all this? The point of all this is that circumstances in your life, people in your life, things that happen in your life, none of these things can affect the Christian when this is the direction of their life. When this is the direction of his or her life, your life, my life. So many people react to everything that happens around them. Which is why there is this constant roller coaster of emotion. There's so many people. They're happy one day, they're sad the next. They're laughing one day, they're crying the next. Because constantly reacting to circumstances and situations and people and if that's how you're going to be, you're going to be on the roller coaster of emotion. Because that's life. Today everything is green and then tomorrow the clouds move in and the storm pours. That's life. But if this is the direction of the believer, none of that will affect them. Don't be like someone who is tossed to and fro by every new wave of teaching and doctrine, like Paul warned the Ephesians in 4.14. Don't be tossed and bantied about by the waves of this world. Christ is an anchor, right? He's a rock. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. We are called to a higher calling. We're called to be people who don't simply make rash, emotional, irrational decisions, but we utilize our minds and the power of the Spirit to approve what is excellent and live our lives in light of the knowledge of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ. That's what it means to live the sanctified life. Let's pray. So Father, we do pray that you would make us this kind of people, a people who seek the face of Christ with everything that we do, a people who seek to know in your word what it is that you would have us do, how it is that you would have us live. We pray that you would continue to conform us more into the image of Christ as we go to your word to learn, to study, to grow. In all this we ask in his precious name, amen.