Now we will turn to our Bibles. We will go back to our text this morning, this first service, Philippians chapter one. Now we will look at verses one, two, sorry, three to 11, but let us all read together. This is Philippians, Philippians chapter one. We will read the whole passage, one to 11. Let's read together. Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and deacons, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the confirmation of the gospel, you are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. And this, I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Let's pray. Father, may this word be true in our church. May we grow more and more in love, in knowledge and discernment. So Father, teach us through this message today that we may know you, that we may love you more, and we may follow you till we see you face to face. Be with us this hour, in Jesus' name we ask, amen. Brothers and sisters, what comes to mind when you hear the word fellowship? Christian gatherings? Small groups? Bible studies? Eating meals together? We have fellowship meals in our church. Can everything Christians do be considered fellowship? What is it really? The word fellowship comes from the Greek word koinonia, which has the meaning of participation. So if you see, ESV actually translates that as partnership in the gospel. Here we have fellowship in the gospel. So what is that? Koinonia is taking part in something, right? Sharing in that something, contributing to that something. With regards to our salvation, for example, Paul says, God called us into the fellowship of his son. We do not participate in our salvation to be saved, but we participate, we share, we take part in Christ as his body. We share his life, we share his death, we share his resurrection. We share in his suffering. We share in his joy. So, throughout the letter of Philippians, as we establish in the first sermon today, Paul emphasizes Philippians' fellowship in the gospel, partnership in the gospel with Paul. You can see that Paul is thankful, look at verse five, thankful for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Continued faithful fellowship. Now, because of our sinfulness, we naturally do things for our own benefit, as we reflect on the law today, right? Whatever benefits me. As a result, our fellowship often loses its true or full meaning. Our fellowship focuses on receiving, taking. We come on Sunday for the services to receive nourishment, and that is good. We meet with each other to gain something, to be nourished, to be strengthened, it's good. To have fun even, it's good. But we think fellowship is good when we receive something. And our self-centered culture amplifies this. Consumerism, right? Consuming, taking. But true Christian fellowship involves receiving, that's correct, and giving. So from our pastors today, we will see that gospel fellowship, true fellowship, is taking part in receiving and in giving. For what? For the advancements of the gospel. You'll hear that word a lot this month. Advancement of the gospel. So we'll learn to evaluate what true gospel fellowship is by looking at what it looks like, what it leads to, and how it is made possible. So we learn to evaluate. So let's begin with the first point. We will look at what true fellowship in the gospel looks like in the present time. The true gospel fellowship fills you with joy and thanksgiving. In verse three, look at verse three, Paul tells us that he can't help but thank God every time he thinks of Philippians. As a result, he prays. He thinks of Philippians, ah, thank God. And that thank God, he prays with joy. Verse four. Can you see the progression? Think of someone, immediately you're thankful, so you pray with joy. Why? Verse five. Because of the Philippians' fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Faithful commitment to the advancement of the gospel. tested and proven, not only when things go well, when ministry grows, but also when Paul is in prison. There are partners in the defense of the gospel. There are partners in confirmation of the gospel, in hardship, success. There are constant partners. and see the beauty of giving and receiving from both sides. From Philippians' side, they were the recipients of Paul's ministry. They received the Word. They are saved. And then now what? They give themselves to support Paul's mission. They're not super rich church, but yet they support Paul. You will see that in chapter four. Read through Philippians. We'll get through the whole book, Lord willing, this summer. But they give because they have received. Receiving and giving. Now look at from Paul's side. It's the same truth for Paul even. Paul receives support from the Philippians. And so Paul gives thanks to God. So Paul prays for them. So Paul writes and teaches them, still gives, even when he's in prison. So both are partakers in giving and receiving for the gospel, advancing the gospel. That's why verse 7, if you look at verse 7 in your Bibles, Paul calls the Philippians partakers, sharers of grace. with me, with Paul. That word partakers comes from similar with koinonia, fellowship, koinonos are the people, the partners. You see koinonia, the noun, the activity, koinonos is those who partake in that. So koinonos, prefix with sin. So together, like synergy together, right? So co-partners, partnering together, join partners, partakers, like your whole self partaking. The Philippians are intimately joined with Paul's work of grace. So true fellowship brings you what? Joy and thanksgiving because of that. Furthermore, gospel fellowship unites you with other Christians. Those with whom you have true fellowship becomes intimate, so dear to you. Look at verse 7. Paul holds the Philippians in his heart. He longs for them with the affection of Jesus Christ. Want to know something? If you check the KJV, It's literally translated as bowels of Jesus Christ. That's the expression like from my heart. The Hebrew people says from my bowels, from the deepest place of your being. You have that longing for brothers and sisters. You keep them in their deepest part. I yearn for you all, but not from his bowel, from the bowels of Jesus Christ. Is there a safer place to be? Is there a more dear, intimate place to be than us together in the bowels, in the hearts of Jesus Christ? That is true fellowship. Greatly longing for one another, united together. And we also see gospel fellowship compels us to pray. Verse 3, we just begin with that. Every time Paul thinks of the Philippians, Thank God for these brothers and sisters. He prays in joy. He prays with thanksgiving. As you become partakers in the advancement of the gospel, you will realize that you will need more time to pray. Five minutes will not cut it. You will have more reason to thank God for, for these faithful co-workers, mention them one by one by name. Thank God for their zeal for the Lord, for the hearts that they have. and for the hearts that haven't reached the numbers that we have today. Our prayer meetings, we used to be able to say all the names and pray for each one of them. Now, we have grown that we can't contain in one hour the names. Isn't that more time to pray needed? Is this the reality of your lives, New Horizon? As you hear updates from them, from Mission Field, from churches around, from our own church. Aha, new things to pray for. More things to be thankful for. Prayer is one way of giving for the sake of the gospel. You can do it even in the closet. You can do it in the washroom if you need, if you really lack of time. The washroom is a good time. Gospel partnership compels you to pray. It fills you with prayer for others. Think about Paul who is suffering in prison. Imagine if every day he only prays for himself. Dear Lord, let me out. Dear Lord, let me out. Dear Lord, let me out. I am depressed. Listen to that. But that's not the case. Paul always prays for his converts and his partners in the gospel with joy. And look at the result. The one suffering in prison is telling the ones free to rejoice. Why? Because his eyes is not fixed in his present situation alone. He sees God all around, how God built the kingdom, builds the church. It's advancing and that fills Paul's heart with joy. What is your prayer life like? Maybe you aren't excited to pray. Maybe your prayer is boring. It's all about you, your needs, your wants, like, let me out, let me out, like Paul did. He didn't do that. If you want to spice up your prayer life, if you want to see answered prayers, pray for mission work. Pray for this church, pray for any church, for every pope, so that every pastor will be kept faithful. that false teachers may repent. Rather than watching those reels about false teachings, pray for that. Pray for God's kingdom to come, for His will to be done in my life, in this church, in every church. And you may and you should pray for your needs, but not just that. How often we neglect our duty to pray for others. Pray for unbelievers. Who will pray for them? Pray for new Christians. Who will pray for them? We might have our parents, siblings, loved ones, church members pray for us, but what about them? Who would pray intercede for them? So pray for those. And your prayer life will never be dull. Your prayer will not be self-centered. And trust me, or try it yourself, prove it. You, as you pray for the advancement of the gospel, you will see it fulfilled. Because it is promised. He shall carry out his gospel to the end of the world. So pray for that, and you will be addicted to pray. Because you pray, and you see results. You pray, you think it's just a cycle that you will go with. It's fun, trust me. This is what the gospel fellowship looks like. It fills you with joy, with thanksgiving. It unites you with other believers, with other Christians, your co-laborers, partakers of grace, and also compels you to pray. And then you ask, how can we pray for those people? You say, Leo, pray for them, how? Well, look at Paul. Look at Philippians 1, nine to 10. Maybe let's read it together. Philippians 1, nine to 10, together. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. And that leads to our second point. Where does fellowship in the gospel lead us to? So we see the present and it's going somewhere. First, gospel leads us to abound more and more and yet still more in love. As we take part in receiving and in giving for the sake of the gospel, we grow like a tree. We grow in love. This love is not just love as the world knows it. True love is grounded in knowledge, in truth, and discernment. In order to love, we need to know what is right, what is good, what is acceptable to God. To know that, we need to know God. Without God, there is no absolute truth. Everything you want, everything goes, everything you feel right, everything you prefer, love will be whatever you think it is. But Christian love is grounded in knowledge and discernment. So knowledge is what you get, you know, and discernment is like the wisdom to discern, to apply the knowledge that you have. This is why Paul prays for love to abound more and more in knowledge and discernment. We need all that. And as we work together for the gospel, you start falling in love. Falling in love with those you... who you share with, you share the same passion of Christ, same labor for Christ. But we have to remember also, because our sinful heart, our old selves, let's say, that still, we are putting them to death. We can also grow to dislike or even resent our gospel partners, and that happens in churches too. Conflicts can happen. Why? Because the closer someone becomes, the more hurtful their faults can be. You know that well, right? So clashes happen, even in church, in gospel partnership. That's why Paul prays for love to abound still more and more. So that by laboring together for the gospel, We grow close together to love. God teaches us to love, to forgive, to discern our strengths, to discern our weaknesses, and to know how to complement, to add that each other, so that the gospel may continue. That's why we are in one little church. And this is only possible if we grow in our knowledge. Knowledge of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. How do we know? Holy Spirit gives it. We can love because we know we have been loved. And this love can be exercised and grow only if you have fellowship with the saints. You can live on an island, have the truth, full Bible truth, but you never exercise it, you never really know how to love. You learn to apply the truth, the knowledge, in community, in the church first and foremost. So brothers and sisters, evaluate your life. Are you taking part in true fellowship of the gospel? Take part in your church life. Share your life with us as we labor for the gospel. And you grow and abound more in love because of that. You might say that church life is hard. Oh, yeah. Church life is messy. Oh, very. You're right. Because these are sick people here. Sinful people, but we know we are sick. Gather here for the physician, great physician to heal. So we grow together, we are healed together. If you think loving someone is hard, remember, we ourselves are hard to love. By sharing life in the church, the body of Christ, we learn, like our head, Jesus Christ. Because the church is the body. Many people leave the church because they say fellowship is cold. But let me tell you, there is some truth to that. At least in Reformed churches, this is a perennial problem. We may be known for our knowledge, but not love. We are not the best in having vibrant fellowship. So the knowledge is confined there. It doesn't translate to love. So if you realize that, don't just leave. That's the reason God placed you here. Remember, true fellowship is sharing. Giving, receiving and giving, giving. So God puts you here to help the congregation, contribute to what you think is lacking in our fellowship, take initiative, share your ideas, and in this way, you are taking part in giving and receiving also. We grow together. We have more intimate fellowship with one another. Do not let love grow cold, because it will in the last days. Don't let the church be like the world. Gospel fellowship does not only lead us to abounding love, though. It also leads us to holiness. By receiving, we learn humility, that we need each other, as God has ordained us to be. and served in the church. But also we give, and by giving we learn to sacrifice. In fellowshipping with the saints, we learn to let go of ourself and let Christ be the center. So Paul asked the Philippians if there is any fellowship in the spirit. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. Let's read that together. This is Philippians chapter two, verses three and four, together. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Gospel fellowship purges our motives so that we may become pure, sincere. Look at verse 10, Philippians 1.10. We become pure. All of you probably have heard the saying, right? Show me your friends and I will show you who you are or your future. It's like basically who you're surrounded with shapes you. I remember when I was working as a music teacher, there was a time I focused only on teaching. So I teach in small province where I came from. And I realized after a while, my standards became more relaxed. I became rather easily satisfied with, you know, just okay quality. But I remember to when I took part, active part, in the professional world, active performing, attending master classes, taking part in the professional musician's activities, my standards stayed high. Why? Because I worked with them. And in turn, my students become better because I keep them to that standard. So we adapt to our surroundings. Surrounded by only students, my standards lowered. Surrounded by professionals, my standard increased. So likewise, we here, if you surround your life with fellowship, the gospel, laboring together for the gospel, strengthening each other, encouraging one another as they work for the gospel, as we work for the gospel, praying together for the work, missionaries, This will not only keep your zeal burning, but your mind will be kept busy by the things of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, Colossians 3, and you will not succumb to Satan's temptation to sin, to give in. If you want to be holy, don't just sit around, don't just hope for the best. Fill your mind, fill your day, every activity, all your life with the people of God, doing the things of God. Take an active participation in the gospel. It will shape you. True fellowship holds you accountable so that you are pure, verse 10, without offense. What does that mean? Holy, blameless, USV says that. And your life, holy, acceptable to God, is your living sacrifice. For what purpose? To the glory and praise of our God. That's our... our gospel fellowship leading us to, to the glory and praise of our God. Not just your whole life is for the praise of God, but your heart is full of awe, full of wonder, because you experience God's work in you. You can ask Pastor Mitchell, Pastor Brian, all those who labor for the gospel. The more actively involved you are in the ministry, the more you realize, man, that wasn't me. You ask me, how do I even finish a service with this voice? That wasn't me. That was Him. That's the Spirit that works in me. I died, but I live, but not I, but Christ. And you will see that ever so real as you work for the gospel. As you serve God, you realize, I can do nothing. It was Him all along working in me. survive one day without looking at the things I don't have to look at, I should not look at. That is not me, that is spirit working in me. It was all along God, and that is our last point. How is this true gospel partnership possible? How can I be of use of gospel cause? How can I contribute to the church? What do I have? What skill? If I start, will I be able to preserve? Will it last for a day even? How can I not succumb to the heartaches or maybe the failures when I fall again and again? And if you have never been taking part in gospel work, you can easily say that's not possible. You're right. It's not possible. Not by our own power. I'm not holy. My motive is not pure. My conduct is not blameless. My love is selfish for my own sake. And I'm far from being righteous. How can I even have true fellowship for the gospel? Who am I? What do I have? It's not possible. But it's possible in Jesus Christ. Verse 11 tells us that all of these that you read are the fruits of the righteousness, which are by Christ Jesus. I'm not righteous, but He is. I'm not pure, but He is. I can't, but He can. I'm not willing. He transforms my heart to will and to do it. Philippians 2. He who came and lived the perfect life. He who died to purchase us from the old lives. He who rose again and now reigns, making us able to do this. That Jesus is working in me. His spirit is transforming me. His righteousness is counted as mine, and I am filled with the fruit of his righteousness. That is how it's all possible. Jesus restores us to the original purpose of why we are created, to have fellowship with God and with His saints. That is how we enjoy God and glorify Him. So brothers and sisters, if you're not in Christ, you have heard this time and time and time again, but if you have never really have true fellowship, partaking in the life of Christ, this is what life is. There's no other life out there. And if you're once serving, maybe, or now serving, but feeling burnt out, you feel like your zeal for God's kingdom is waning, or your love for God is not consistent, Or you doubt, will I be faithful to the end? Or maybe you are hurt by your co-workers, co-laborers in Christ. Let me tell you this. Your faith should never be based on others or on yourself. Your faith is in God. Your basis of your faith is Jesus Christ. This God who calls you to be His, this God who started working in your heart, He will bring that to completion. So that you can say with Paul, let's read it together, Philippians 1, 6, together. 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. Jesus will sustain your faith. Jesus will grow your faith. Jesus will mature you so that you will be found faithful when he comes. Well done, faithful servant, he will say. So have faith in this God, not anyone else, not anything else. As you labor for him, focus your eyes on Christ, on the cross. On that day, you will see him face to face. He will say, well done, my good servant. because He enables you to go forward. Brothers and sisters, my fellow partners in the gospel, let me clear this. Did you notice that I did not tell you what activities can be considered as true fellowship? Our first point tells us what true fellowship looks like. Gives you joy, gives you peace, gives you thanksgiving, makes you pray, grows you closer to one another. Second point tells us where it leads us to. It calls us to be holy. It leads us for the praise and glory of God. Our last point tells us how it is possible in Christ. Now these are indicators so that you can evaluate things. Our church fellowship meals, for example, if it fills you with joy and thanksgiving, if it unites you with fellow Christians, if it renews your spirit, to labor for Christ. Maybe as you sit together, as you share the meal, you have the chance to hear about the joy, about the struggle of your brother and sister. And you have the chance to encourage them, to tell them, I'm struggling too. We are in this together with Christ. You pray for them. Then that fellowship meal is true fellowship. If you just come to eat and go home, well, probably not. Can games night be true fellowship? If it is for only the sake of having good times, killing time, maybe not. But if it gives you opportunity to enjoy each other's company, to be refreshed, to know one another better. So you can serve one another, you can love one another, so that you can be vulnerable to one another. And that way you grow in love, you strive together to be holy. grow to love God together, then that game's night is true fellowship. You are strengthening one another to labor on for the gospel. On the other hand, things that seem holy, go to church every Sunday, attend every event, but you don't really love God in your heart, or you don't really care for others in their needs. Or you can go out on the street preaching, evangelizing every day. But if you do it for your own ego, without love, getting angry at those, you heard the gospel, but you rejected it. That is not active partnership in the advancement of the gospel. You might even do damage to gospel proclamation. Am I saying don't go evangelize? No. You should go, you must go, but do it with love, with knowledge and discernment. Am I saying you don't have to go to church? Go to two services on Sunday? No, you should. Actually, you must. God calls you to that. That is how you're equipped to be effective gospel partners. It's not just about the activity itself, what it is, but it's the motivation and how you grow. in love, to love with knowledge and discernment. True fellowship in the gospel can be any activity that is pleasing to God out of love, grounded in knowledge and discernment, equipping the saints to grow in love and holiness, to be equipped and to be effective witnesses of Christ for the glory and praise. Let me repeat that five points. I kind of like it. True fellowship in the gospel can be an activity pleasing to God, out of love, grounded in knowledge and discernment, equipping the saints to grow in love and holiness, so that you become effective witnesses, partners of Christ, for God's glory and praise. That is true fellowship. So, New Horizon, how is our fellowship? May that be true. May we live in the true fellowship of the gospel, receiving one another, giving ourselves to one another, building up, strengthening the church as we proclaim the gospel. Let's pray for that. Father in heaven, we have heard your word. May we be the doers of your words and forgive us when we go astray from this. We are weak and we're easily prone to wander, but we know that your Holy Spirit guides us and protects us. So, Father, help us to trust in your guiding spirit, in your love that is faithful. Trust in the work that you have begun in us, that you will not abandon, but you will bring to completion until Jesus comes. Help us to be active partners in receiving and in giving. So that when you come again, we will see Jesus face-to-face and embrace Him as He says, well done, faithful servants. May this be our sole joy as we live this life for Your sake. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let us respond by standing up and singing 410, hymn number 410. Christian, I...