And so, here we land in one of the more well-known parts of the Book of Philippians. Chapter four is probably the best-known part of the book. There's a lot of verses that we know that maybe we memorized when we were younger or things that are, say, from songs. Just look at verse four, Rejoicing the Lord always. Again, I will say, Rejoice. Now, let's remember what we've seen in Philippians so far. The people, the church in Philippi, they're experiencing persecution. Paul is experiencing persecution. He has been imprisoned. And what is Paul saying they should do? They should rejoice.

So, we have a bit of a humbling passage here because we see Paul's compassion for those who are teaching falsely. He is concerned not only for them, but for what might happen to those who follow them. And so, we see, what is Paul saying the solution is here to these problems? Well, he says, Join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. In other words, look at those who are behaving in the way we are, but also those who are teaching the way that we are teaching.

So, we arrive here in verse 12 of chapter 3, and we see Paul talking about how he hasn't already obtained the perfection that he has been talking about, this righteousness. He's not perfectly righteous in this life. He's not already perfect, as he says here, but he presses on for it. He's not saying that he's not saved. He's not saying that he needs to do this. He's saying that he's striving for this righteousness in this life, that the struggles that he has, he knows that Christ Jesus has made him his own.

There is so much richness and depth to this part of the Book of Philippians. This is just eleven verses just coming at you one statement after another, talking about the essence of the faith. Now, there's some stuff in here that we may not understand very well because we don't necessarily speak the language that Paul would have been speaking. And by that I don't mean Greek or Hebrew or anything like that. I mean, the things that he would have said might not resonate with us. For example, he says, Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evil doors, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. Well, that would have been the Judaizers who were saying that, Yeah, Jesus was good and you need him, but you also need to be circumcised.

This is an interesting passage, as I was dividing up the Book of Philippians, I actually considered putting these verses with what we looked at on Monday, but I decided to look at this separately. Even though there's no real deep theological truth here or nothing really doctrinal in this, it shows us something important about the Christian life. It shows us something very important about Christian service. Notice how Paul talks about Timothy and Epaphroditus here, how they serve Christ church. Notice he's willing to send Timothy in his place. Paul has been detained. He's been imprisoned, and he's willing to send Timothy.

As we come to this part of Philippians today, we see some language here that might be a little confusing to us because it tells us that we're to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Well, what does that mean? Does that mean that we do works to earn our salvation? Does that mean that our salvation is depend on you and I working it out? Well, clearly it's not, because immediately following what does the apostle Paul say? For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So, what does this mean? What is the idea being conveyed here? Well, what it is saying is that we need to have an understanding of the gravity of who God is.

As I said, this is a well-known passage of scripture. What is amazing here is that it continues this theme that Paul has been having, that things aren't exactly the way the world expects here. Paul has this idea that suffering is a good thing, and he continues here that humility is a good thing, to be humble is a good thing. We want to build ourselves up. Our egos want to amplify us. But here Paul tells us that if we're going to have the mind of Christ Jesus, we need to be thinking about humility. Look at what he says here. Look, even though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped.

This part of the Book of Philippians is an absolutely amazing portion of scripture. There's so much richness and depth here in Paul talking about his life and talking about the suffering that we may have to do for the Lord Jesus. Now, as we look at this passage, we see in verse 21 that he says, For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. What an amazing statement. It's a very well-known verse, but what an amazing statement that Paul is talking about his persecution. He understands he may be martyred, but yet he is saying that, Hey, if I live, I'm living for Christ. But if I die, it is gain. He has a trust. He has a sure confidence that he will be with Christ if he dies. What an amazing faith that he has.

As we are in this section, we see something rather interesting, interesting to think that, well, Paul has been imprisoned and it has served to advance the gospel. Now, that runs contrary to the way you and I think altogether. Well, wouldn't Paul be better off if he was free and he could go and he could spread the gospel all over the place? Wouldn't that be better? But that's not what God in His providence chose to happen. God is, in fact, using these circumstances, this persecution to build up the proclamation of the Gospel. What do we see here? That Paul is able to have an end with the whole Imperial Guard. This is a big deal. He has an in to people who are on the ground, people who are living real lives, and people who have a position within the government. He's able to proclaim the gospel.

As we land in this first part of the Book of Philippians, it's important that we understand that the church in Philippi is experiencing persecution. We have to understand here that what they are going through is difficult, but Paul believes that God is doing something through it. Paul is trusting that God is going to do a good work in the church at Philippi through what they are experiencing. If you're watching on video, you can see that I've highlighted verse 6, and it's a well-known verse. It says, And I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ.