Category: Sermon

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Ephesians Sermon The Church

Purpose of the Church – Ephesians 3:8-10

We are currently doing a series on the topic called ‘The Church’.

Last Sunday, we learnt ‘WHAT is church’.

We learnt that church is not a building or a structure but a family of people redeemed by the blood of Christ –  Joined together in Him, Citizens of a heavenly Kingdom and a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday our goal is to discover the WHY and the passage we will be looking at is Ephesians 3:8-10.

For a Christian it is important to know the WHY of the Church because it unlocks the WHY of our own personal lives. In a fast-paced, ambition-driven, need-based society we are often distracted and blinded from discovering the God given purposes of our lives. We often define the purpose of our lives based on our upbringing, cultural influences and selfish desires of our hearts.

I believe as we discover the WHY of the Church it will allow us to see how our own lives are woven in this beautiful relationship with God and with one another. We will learn that for a Christian, outside of this relationship, life doesn’t exist.

Instead of realising this truth on our death bed when everything we strive for in life seem to fade away, its better to realise it now so we can live a happy and satisfied life in God, also leaving back a legacy for our next generation to follow and aspire.

If you are someone who really desires this life then follow with me… in Ephesians 3:8-10 where Apostle Paul writes…

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

I’m going to focus on five ‘key-phrases’ from this passage and use them interchangeably to explain what it reveals about the Purpose of the church.

The five phrases are:

“The very least of us”

“Preach to the gentiles”

“Unsearchable riches of Christ”

“Mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things”

“Through the Church”

The first key phrase I want to begin with is ‘through the church’.

Brothers & sisters, since the time we fell into Sin and made a mess of our lives, God’s been doing such amazing things to restore us back to Him, through generations old and new. And in the new covenant of Christ the important thing we all need to learn is that everything God has done in history post Jesus, what God is doing in the present and what God is about to do in the future is through the church.

Not through any single man or even a party, standing isolated from the world, shouting and yelling at the top of their voice – whether political or religious. It’s only through the church – the redeemed people of God – including you and me sitting right now in this small little dance rehearsal hall.

And here’s what is He is doing?

His is revealing “His manifold wisdom” to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

The very forces that are against the coming Kingdom of God, making every effort to destroy precious lives through deception and manipulations, in the name of tradition, culture, political freedom, health, wealth and prosperity. Non of which is bad by itself, bad only when its used to distract us from the truth – the ‘manifold wisdom of God’

This manifold wisdom of God is the “mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things”

Let’s take a step back and consider who we are talking about here.

We are not talking about a new movement started by a political or a business leader who wants to change the world – and we chose whether we want to go with Him or not. We are talking about God who created all things for His pleasure and none of us have a choice not to follow Him. Our choice will determine whether we will live eternity in heaven or in hell.

The mystery that was hidden for ages is ‘Christ’. Colossians 1:27 “God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”

When God made this world, he made us in his image, he wanted us to walk humbly and obediently in his presence, honouring him, glorifying him, worshipping him – but instead we chose to disobey and rebel because of which we had to be thrown out of this beautiful relationship and also away from his joy-giving, peace-filled promises – promise of a good life which we were meant to live when he created us – to live in a peaceful world.

The mystery is that now through Christ’s life, death and resurrection, as we repent and believe in him, we can be restored back into that relationship, which also unlocking the ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ in us – the privilege of been adopted in His family, to be co-heir with Christ in heaven. – bestowed with the power to do greater things than He who sent us, to be change makers, mountain movers, pace setters, leaders of this world.

He chooses “the very least of us” as Paul points out about his own election. Not the healthy, wealthy, prosperous and wise people of this world but the sick, the poor, the needy and foolish people like us – and then joining us together, calling us church and sending us out into the world …

To do what?

“To preach to the gentiles the good news of this mystery which is Christ”, the hope of glory to each and every person who believes in Him.

In all this God is seeking His glory and the purpose of the church is to Glorify Him as we preach the gospel and see hearts been transformed.

The purpose of the church is not just gathering people every Sunday morning, singing songs and having a great fellowship. The purpose of the church, of every individual sitting here is to take this good news that which we sing about and cherish every Sunday morning, go out into the world and preach it to the dying world – in our neighbourhood, in our workplace, in our society, in our city, in our nation and the ends of the world.

How?

Through our lifestyle, our attitude, our behaviour, our love for one another, our service – but most importantly through our WORDS.

The word ‘preach’ means public proclamation, advocating the truth of the Gospel in every way possible. A lot of people quote St Francis of Assisi who said “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words”… That’s not what the scripture tells us – It tells us to go out and preach it.

In the world where humans (the image bearers of the God) are fighting against war, global warming, corruption, injustice, slavery, rape, abuse of power, religious oppression, CAA & NRC on the basis of ethics, values & human rights. God wants his church, the redeemed people of God to rise up and become channels through which he revels his manifold wisdom, the mystery hidden in Christ, the hope for all the problems – through public proclamation.

This is the ultimate purpose of the Church. And this is the ultimate purpose of every believer.

Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness for the people to see and be saved. We, the church are called to lift up Son Jesus to this world and call them out to repent of their sins and put their faith in Him so that their souls may be saved and restored.

There is nothing to be ashamed of while preaching the Gospel because we are not selling an insurance policy, we are proclaiming the truth, the only truth that can save them. Ultimately, its their choice whether to take it or not.

And before I point finger at you and ask you whether you are doing so, I want to confess my own failure to do so, because of my fears and insecurities. I think I sometimes fool myself by thinking that I am preaching the Gospel every Sunday, to every like minded brother and sister who comes to me for counselling. But I believe there is a difference between preaching the Gospel in a safe environment like this and preaching to the gentiles as Paul writes where my life can be in danger, where I am susceptible to rejection, mockery, hatred etc.

Church, lets rise up – to our calling, to our purposes, to our destiny.

Jesus said “Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is mandate given to the church, to every person sitting in this room.

This doesn’t mean that we throw off our jobs, abandon our responsibilities. But it means to recognise the context in which God has placed us, whether at work, in family, in society. And as we are participating in our daily earthly chores and fulfilling our God given responsibilities we are aware that our primary goal is to Glorify God by lifting up the name of His son Jesus, by preaching the good news to the gentiles, making disciples and teaching them to obey God.

In concluding my talk, I want to pray and plead with God for my heart this morning, to make bold and courageous, to become intentional in sharing the Gospel to my lost friends, neighbors, colleagues, and if that is what you feel convicted of this morning, I want to you to join me in praying and pleading with God.

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Ephesians Sermon The Church

The Church: Ephesians 2:19-22

Today we shall look study Ephesian 2:19-22,

I titled my sermon as ” The church”. Bible uses the word “Body” as a metaphor of church,

Each part of the body has a different role. Similarly, each one of us has different roles in the body of Christ.

If we don’t know our roles and if we don’t work together, we will face confusion in the body of Christ, so in order to know the purpose of the church these few weeks, we are taking up the doctrine of Church, so that we all will understand what church is, the purpose and role of the church, and build up strong, biblical and healthy church.

Background of Ephesian.

We know apostle Paul wrote this letter, This letter to the Ephesian was written in Rome and was the first of the prison letters, written in 60 AD.

The theme of this epistle is

 “The church, Christ Body.”

Ephesian focus on the Basic Doctrine of the Church. What it is and how believers function within it.

The first 3 chapters of Ephesian emphasize doctrine and the last 3 chapters emphasize behaviour.

Meaning of Church

The word Church (Ekklesia) comes from 2 Greek words, “Ek” which means ‘out’, “Kaleo” which means ‘to call’.

So Ekklesia(Church) means – called out ones.

Thus it means that the church is a group of people who are called out from the darkness of this world to marvellous light to be a special people to serve the living God.


Remember the church is not a building which we go to, or denominations or social activities you take up.

Text Ephesian 2:19-22.NASB.

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,

21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy [b]temple in the Lord,

22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

In order to understand these passages we shall go back to the previous verses.

Chapters 2 talk about the condition of the church before they received Christ.

  1. You were dead in your trespasses and sin. (2:1)
  2. You used to live in the ways of the world. (2:2)
  3. Walk according to the desire of Satan. (2:2)
  4. Living in the lust of the flesh. (2:3)
  5. Children of wrath. (2:3)
  6. Separated from God.  (2:12)
  7. Living without hope and without God. (2:12)

But the great news is in Ephesian 2:4-5.

4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

 5 even when we were dead [f]in our transgressions, made us alive together [g]with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

He chose us before the foundation of the world.(1:4).

Redemption through His blood(1:7)

Forgave our sin according to the richest of His grace. (1:7)

He has adopted us (1:5).

Sealed us by the Holy Spirit. (1:13)

Brought peace in our life.  (2:14)

He reconciled us to the Father.(2:16)

And Paul continues in verse 19-22,

We shall see 5 points under these texts.

  1. The church is the citizens of God’s kingdom. (19a).

19. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the [p]saints, and are of God’s household.

– Our permanent home is in heaven we are just passing this world. John 14:1-2 Jesus is preparing a place for us and He is coming back.

– We belong to God’s kingdom.

Illustration: Matthew 7:21-24.

Application: are you sure of your citizenship in heaven.

Let us examine ourself and confess our sins and surrender our life to Christ.

  1. The church is the family or household of God. (19b)

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the [p]saints, and are of God’s household”

Not only citizenship but be we are now God’s beloved family.

Illustration: Prodigal son Luke 15.

Application: Are you in the Father house?

  1. The church is built in the foundation of Christ. 20.

20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.”

Illustration: Two builders, wise and foolish builder’s. Matthew 7:24-27.

Cf Psalm 127:1-2.

Application: Are you building up your life in Christ foundation?

  1. The church are joined together to grow in Christ. 21.

“21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,”

We need to work together, we need to come together as one body in this church and grow together in Him.

Illustration: A baby that never grow.

We believe we need spiritual food daily. Meditating on the word of God and praying.

Application : Are you growing daily in the Lord?

  1. The church is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. (22)

“In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

The day you received Christ, Holy Spirit dwell in you. How are you maintaining your heart?

Illustration: Corinthian church.

1Corinthian 6:19-20.

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.

Application: Are you bringing glory to God through your body?

God bless you.

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Sermon

Vision 2020: Intimacy with Christ

Today is the first Sunday of the year, and I was meditating & praying, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to ponder upon God’s heart, vision, goals and dreams for our lives.

which is…

1. To grow in Intimacy with His son Jesus Christ &
2. To grow in the awareness of the indwelling life of his son Jesus in us

No matter how big our personal dreams are, no matter how strong our individual desires are.. if our dreams, desires and pursuits in life are not helping us to move towards God’s goal for our lives then life will be a total waste where are chasing after worthless things that will only bring grief and sorrow at the end.

It may give momentary satisfaction to us externally but it will never bring internal transformation.

Similarly, as a church we can have a large vision and aspirations. But if the plans and vision we have for the church does not move us in the direction of God’s goals for our lives, then we will end up making church an idol.

And therefore, my desire as I preach this morning is to encourage and help us cultivate intimacy with Jesus and to walk in the awareness of His indwelling life in us that enables us to live victorious lives.

How do we grow in intimacy with Christ?

Very often when a sermon like this is preached, our immediate response is that from tomorrow onwards I will pray more, read the bible more, worship more… and that will put things in order.

But what happens? How many in this room made a decision like that and has been followed it through for the last one year. I’ve tried that many times in my Christian journey and have failed at it again and again.

And even if we are successful in doing that regularly, down the line we loose the excitement and it becomes dry and lifeless, a routine, a joyless activity.

So, if its not about doing all these spiritual activities then you may ask what does it really mean to walk and grow in intimacy with Christ? 

For that I want you to read with me, Psalms 63:1-8 and read the heartbeat of a man who knew what it meant to have an intimate relationship with God.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

I’m not going to expound on this passage but what we understand about Intimacy in this heart touching Psalm that is that Intimacy means living a life of complete surrender to God.

Where we grow up realizing that there is nothing better than Jesus, where our soul thirsts for him, our flesh faints for him, where we see His steadfast love better than life, where our soul finds satisfaction in Him alone, where our mouth is constantly filled with His praises, where we think about Him upon our bed in the night, where we wake up in the morning with songs on our lips.

Let me give you a visual picture of what that means. Here’s our heart

Filled in are all the bubbles of various aspects of our lives; a bubble for marriage, a bubble for career, a bubble for relationships, a bubble for friends, etc .. and along with all the bubbles, is a bubble for Jesus. We call this compartmentalization.

When we lived in sin our hearts, our minds, our will, our emotions were subject to the devil, we were slaves to sin; sin ruled over us.

But the day God mercifully opened our blinded eyes and convicted us, He brought us to a realization that there is more to life than what it seems to be. He revealed to us the depravity of our heart, the emptiness of life, the sorrow of this broken world.

And we then learn that all this is happening because of our broken relationship with our creator God, our Father. And the only way we can get back into that relationship with God is to accept His provision which he offered to us by the life, death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.

When we repent of our sins and put our faith in Jesus he becomes alive in our heart, and God accepts us back into his loving relationship – This we call Justification.

Once we are in this beautiful relationship, we are now called to grow and enjoy that relationship, which is what we mean by growing in intimacy with Christ – This we call as Sanctification.

And the process by which we grow in intimacy with Christ is by surrendering every aspect of our lives to him and to make Him the ultimate goal and the ultimate purpose of life.

Where Jesus is not just an isolated bubble in the corner of our heart, but he becomes the larger bubble within which all other bubble fit.

At the end of it all what God is accomplishing in our heart as we surrender our lives to him is to take complete reign.

As human beings, still living in our flesh we will always resist this path of giving full control to Jesus, because we are prone to sin and it gives us momentary pleasure. Therefore, we have to constantly remind ourselves that seeking momentary pleasures will always hinder us from living a full life in Christ.

Practically, it means to give up that which we think is important for me or bothering me into the hands of a loving Saviour one by one, who knows what’s best for our life. It includes our career, our relationship, our marriage, our studies, our ministry, our dreams, our business, our job etc.

For example, when we get up in the morning, do our daily devotions and as we are on our way to work we think of all the task on our desk, the meetings we have to attend, the boss we have to face and all of a sudden we become anxious, anxious about our future, anxious about our growth in the company, anxious about our career.

And if growing in intimacy with Jesus means surrendering all to him, then what we need to do is take a step back, find a quite place, it could be in the washroom, spell out your frustration to Jesus and ask him to take control, saying Jesus, I am not going to worry about my career because you are better, and you know what’s best for me, I will let you have your way in me.

Even if I don’t get a raise in my salary, even if I lose my job, even if things don’t seem to be going in the direction I wanted. I will trust in you, and I will continue to love you.

To come to a place where we are able to say like Paul in Philippians 3:8 “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”

And once we’ve don’t surrendering that area of our life, wait on the Holy Spirit to speak to our heart, give us direction to what we need to do, how we need to behave… and if its a big step he is asking you to take, ask him to confirm through other sources. Once confirmed, trust in Him and go for it.

The same could be applied to a relationship, a marriage situation, dealing with a new born baby, teaching our children at home etc.

But remember we don’t try to accomplish this with our efforts, because our efforts will turn out to be futile and will ultimately fail us.

And therefore what we need is to grow in the awareness of the indwelling life of Jesus in us.

Let me show you some scriptures that talk about our dependence on Jesus.

“But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.”—Romans 8:10

“Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.”—2 Corinthians 4:6-7

“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”—Galatians 2:20

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”—Colossians 1:27

Brothers & sisters, I hope you are able to see what I can see in these verses.

What I understand from these passages is that, for me to grow in intimacy with Christ where he takes center stage of my life, it doesn’t happen because of our efforts but because of Christ himself who is in me, the hope of Glory who is accomplishing for himself the task of drawing us closer to himself. See how much God loves us and wants us, the length and breath of his steadfast love.

Therefor, my responsibility then is only to surrender myself to his Lordship over my life.

Praying everyday, reading His Word daily is the outcome of a surrendered life. It is not the means to grow closer to God. We can ‘do’ all those things and yet fail to live in intimacy with Christ since Christ is is still another bubble in our hearts who gets attention in the mornings and on Sundays.

True intimacy is when He gets our attention 24 x 7, 7 days a week & 365 days of the year.

This is God’s desire for us, which He is accomplishing in our hearts as we give ourselves in total surrender to Him.

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Philippians Sermon

The Joy of Generous Giving – Philippians 4:14-23

Our passage for today is Philippians 4:14-23.

Today we are concluding our sermon series on the letter of Philippians. In these passage, Paul is ending his letter by thanking the church for sharing in his trouble and for their partnership in giving and receiving.

In times of Paul’s greatest need the church stood with him and sent him a gift offering to provide for all his need through brother Epaphraditus. And this was not the first time the church sent a gift, they did this at several occasions.

More than rejoicing in the fact that his needs were met, he rejoices for the increasing fruit the believers are going to receive because of their giving.

Here are a couple of observations we can gather from the passage.

We don’t know what exactly the gift was, it could be cash or maybe food, clothes etc. But in both cases we know for that money had to be collected.

For Epapraditus to take a huge risk with his life to deliver the gift and for Paul to say ‘I am well supplied’, the believe the gift must have costed a substantial amount.

For the church to contribute such a huge sum of money, every member of the church must have generously given.

Since we are now talking about money, let me also share some truths we need to know about money, especially in the church context.

– Whenever a donation or an offering is asked by a church leader, it is not because God needs our money, or that God’s church lacks anything. God is self sufficient and needs no man’s help to build His Kingdom, His Church.

– Everything we have belongs to God and we have no right to hold back even a paisa. We owe everything to Him and he has all the rights to take it away.

– When we are asked to give back a certain portion from what we receive from Him, God is protecting our heart from making money our idol.

In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Therefore, when we are asked to give, whether as an offering to meet church needs, or for missions, or to help a brother or sister in need. God is opening an opportunity for us to search our hearts and evaluate whether money has taken his place, whether we trust in money or in God, whether we see our security in money or in God.

A man or a women who gives generously to Gods work exhibits his/her trust in God. Secondly, it is also a way in which God brings about a balance in the manner in which money and the earthly resources are equally distributed among his children according to their needs and necessities.

God uses all kinds of people and all kinds of ministry to expand His glory and it is the responsibility of each child of God to generously participate in whatever measure they can contribute.

In the Old Testament, a large group of people called the Levite’s were called to do certain tasks in the temple which did not yield them any wages. And therefore others were asked to set apart one tenth of their wages as a contribution to meet the needs of the Levite’s.

We read that in Numbers 18:21 God says “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting” Giving to the need of the church and to Gods ministry is a mandate every child of God should carry in their heart.

As we are talking about the joy of giving, here are three reasons from this passage that should encourage us to be generous giver.

1. We give because God first gave

God is a generous giver.

In verse 19 “My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” God is not holding back any good thing from us, and if there is delay from His end it is only for our good.

The greatest gift of all is even though we sinned against God and while we were still sinners, God gave his only son to die for us so that he can save us from eternal death. – He gave away His best to us.

Therefore when we are asked to give let us give from a grateful heart remembering His generosity towards us.

2. We give to receive increasing fruit

In verse 17 Paul writes, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit”, it affirms the fact that there is a reward that God gives to those who generously give.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus says “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Now, when we talk about receiving return gifts from God for our giving, we should also be careful not to do it with wrong motivation and expectations.

A lot of people when they give they give it as though the Kingdom of God is a stock market, where you systematically invest in ministries that you think will give high returns.

We don’t treat God that way. We have to careful of prosperity preachers who ask us to sow seeds in their ministries expecting high returns.

Therefore, before we give, it is important that we get plugged into a healthy gospel-centered church that help us grow and mature in the things of God that matters to our soul, allowing God to sanctify our heart and mind, destroy the idols of selfishness, boastfulness and pride.

God is not interested in our sacrifices if our heart is not in the right place. In Hosea 6:6 God is saying “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.”

When we give, we give with a right attitude, an attitude that is renewed and repaired by the influence of the Gospel. And when God sees the real heart of the giver he gives it back in full measure because God is not a debtor of man.

And finally…

3. We give to increase our joy in Christ

As we read through verse 14 to 18 we see the joy in Paul’s heart. He was in trouble, he was in need, he needed encouragement, and he received all of that in full measure through the kind and generous gesture of the Church in Philippi.

There is a certain sense of joy that we experience, not only when we receive but also when we give.

In Acts 20:35 the author reminds the church about what Jesus said about giving, Jesus said “It is more blessed to give than to receive”

At Gathering, we don’t talk a lot about the topic of giving in the church, maybe because of the abuse of money in so called Christian ministries, but it doesn’t mean that giving is not important, in fact it is so very crucial.

A generous giving of time, money and resources to the church speaks a lot about our faith and attitude towards God.

As Elders of the church we speak out of our own lives, just like you all we too have full-time jobs, we do not take any salary from the church offertory, we provide for our own needs and equally participate in giving. What we are asking you to do is something we all do and and have experienced joy and blessings.

Therefore, I encourage each one of you to joyfully participate in the Joy of giving, it is not just a request but a mandate, a command from the Lord to give.

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Philippians Sermon

Believers Journey in Christ: Philippians 4:10-13

10. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:10-13

Topic: Believers Journey in Christ.
Previous Sunday we learnt about always rejoicing and being gentle in spirit, we learnt to not be anxious but live a prayer life, peace of God will guard you.

Last Sunday – We are to think and live on the things which are True, Honourable, Right, pure, lovely admirable.

Today we shall see 3 principles under the text we have just read.

1. Be a channel of blessing. (10)
                    10. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. Illustration: Philippians believers.

My story at train station. William Pettegrew missionary to Manipur.

Julie: You may not meet the same person twice in your life, make use of every opportunity and be a blessing to all people you met.

“Be careful how you live; you may be the only some people ever read.” Williams J Toms.

Application:
Quotation of Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence (wrong doing or crime), let me bring pardon.
 Where there is discord (Disunity), let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair (No hope), let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

Be a channel of blessing for someone everyday, let us be a channel of blessing this coming year our family, church, work place, wherever we are.

Matthew 10:42.
 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

2. Be content with God provision. (11,12)
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

 Illustration: Paul life. (Gal. 2:20) Paul live his life for God.

George muller and his wife sell all they possess and live their life contented under God’s loving provision. (If He don’t supply Gods name will be dishonour).

David “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” Psalm 37: 25. (He will supply all your need Phil. 4:19)

# Adam and Eve, Lucifer fall. (Discontentment bring destruction, pain & suffering)
# Israelite in wilderness (Complaint, Grumble to God) Result God was not happy.

1 Timothy 6:6-11.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Some result of discontent life.

1)It destroy our present joy
2) It make us restless
3) it makes our life complex and confuse
4) leads to Complain and grumble in life (Israelite)
5) It leads to anxiety.
6) It lead to covetousness.

Lesson from King Agur Proverb 30:7-9.
“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal,     
and so dishonor the name of my God.


Lesson from Asaph Psalm 73:25-26.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart     
and my portion forever.

Solution:
1) Never compare your life with others (the grass is always greener on the other side)
2) Count Gods blessing in your life.
3) Remember Gods sovereign will in your life. (you gave & you take away blessed be your name) Job.

Application: Are you content with your life?

Remember church If God is all we have we have all our need, Let us all be content with the provision of God in our daily life.

3. Be confident with God strength.
(13) “I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.”

Remember the context.

Paul is in Jail and He is saying he can face and endure all the challenges in life by Christ strength.

We will face hardship, persecution and challenges in life but remember we can do all things through Christ who strengthen me.

John 15: 5 “ I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Illustration: Israelite were defeated by Ai because God was not with them. If you try to fight any battle without Gods strength you will always be defeated. You will face all hardship and shame.

Illustration:
1. Author Life.
2. King David
3. Daniel Proverb 3:5-6.  Trust in the LORD with all your heart.

“The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer. My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ~ Psalms 18:2

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? ~ Psalms 27:1

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him. Psalms 28:7

Application:
 Would you trust yourself or would you put your confidence on God?

Let us learn from the life of Apostle Paul and Daniel, David. With God all things are possible

Categories
Philippians Sermon

Whatsoever brings True Joy – Philippians 4:8-9

Let’s turn to our passage Philippians 4:8-9.

Let’s read.

One of India’s well known author, noble price winning economist Mr. Amartya Sen has written a book called ‘The Argumentative Indian’. In his book he talks about our Indian culture and how its built on arguments, arguments made between kings, politicians, religious leaders & the common men in our society.

According to Mr Sen today’s culture is a product of those arguments, our country in run based on such arguments, our constitution is built on such arguments, our company policies are made on such arguments, our society is built on such arguments, our family values & traditions are decided on such arguments, we live and look at life through the lenses of such arguments and suggestions made by people all around us. 

We are often told that to live a prosperous, productive and fulfilling life we need to hold on to these values, traditions, policies, rules that has been passed on to us by our ancestors. And even though they aren’t all bad, it does bring some sort of order and discipline in our lives, we need to know that they only bring external changes in us, and it can never ever bring permanent, true & lasting joy, peace and hope in our life.

Therefore, to experience true love, joy, peace, hope what we really need to hold on to are the things that bring internal heart changes.

Paul is concluding his letter to the Philippians and in the passage we just read he is asking the church to think about and to hold on to the things that will truly bring heart transformation and will lead us into experiencing true and genuine love, lasting joy, unimaginable peace and ever growing hope.

Therefore this morning I want to urge you brothers and sisters to refocus our time, energy, efforts, our thoughts towards such godly virtues and not what the world around us is talking, arguing and pressing on us.

And unlike the people of the world (leaders, politicians, family members, managers, bosses) Paul isn’t a hypocrite who is telling us to behave in a certain manner without living it out himself, he spent and sacrificed his whole life for the things that were true.

In verse 9 he says “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” It is very rare in today world to hear someone say that way.

There are 6 things Paul is asking the church to think about and hold on to, because of time constraints I won’t expound on all six, rather I will spend more time on the first one (which I think is most important) and then I will just introduce you the rest 5 and share some thoughts for your to ponder on when you go back home.

Paul isn’t offering us counsel; he’s giving us a command.

Think about or hold on to whatever is …

TRUE

It is important to know the Truth.

Illustration of the room being a spaceship

Unless we know what is TRUE we can never be free.

Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free”

John 8:32

But what is the truth we need to hold on to?

Just like the example of this room being a space ship, we were all born in this tiny little world (tiny compared to the vast universe), and every day we are trying to discover more about this world through experiences and through arguments with each other. And what we call as traditions, rules, logic is the intellectual outcome of our thinking which may not be true. Because no matter how hard we try, we keep failing by destroying this good earth every single day.

And we when we realize the futility of our actions, the destruction we are causing to one another as we seek our own  pleasure, our dead religion, corrupt politics, sick traditions etc Its important to know the truth. 

The truth about who we are?

The truth about why we are?

The truth of what’s going to happen?

The truth about how we are getting out of this place?

And the only way we get know the truth about our story is when we understand the story of the one who created us, created the universe – God.

Let’s understand the story of God as revealed to us through his divine providence. BTW we only know the story as much as he has revealed to us in the bible. The bible, even though it is written by men it is inspired by God, and everyday this word of God confirms its power and authority over our lives by transforming the hearts of men all around the world.

And the story of God, according to this scripture tells us that when he created the world he also created us in his own image and likeness out of sheer delight, to share a loving relationship. He wanted us to multiply and have dominion over the earth, but he wanted us to do that under His authority and rule. But because we were made in the image of God we also inherited his qualities, one of them been the power to choose and make decisions for ourselves.

 Now God wanted us to use that power he gave us to willingly choose to honour him and worship him and enjoy this good earth he created for us.

But instead of choosing the right thing we chose the opposite. When the evil one told us that by disobeying God we will be like him, we liked the idea and ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. But we forgot that God is in control and has all authority in heaven and earth to do what he pleases.

Using his authority, God had to throw us out of the garden and separated us from his love. God wanted us to know that without Him we are a wreak, we will destroy ourselves if we pursue to become our own gods. And because we chose that in Roman 1:24-26, 28-31

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 28 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.


And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Now the question is how do we get out of it?

The answer is “Only God can get us out of this”

This is how God brought us back to him.

John 3:16 says “For God the Father so loved the world he gave his only begotten son to die for us so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

God the son, Jesus himself came down on this earth, lived the life we were supposed to live, made the choices we were supposed to make, lived a perfect live our behalf, and then exchanged that life with us. He took the penalty of our wrong choices upon himself and instead gave us his righteousness. He defeated Sin and death for us and is now seated on the right hand of the Father and guess what he is doing?

He is interceding for us to the Father. Even after becoming a child of God, because of our indwelling sin we do commit sin again in our flesh, but when we fall, realize our mistake, go back to God in repentance. Jesus looks at his Father as says I’ve already paid for that which he just committed, he is worthy of love and forgiveness.

And the only way we can be set free from this sick body and this sick world is when we humbly accept and repent of our sins and receive his grace by putting our faith in Jesus.

And unless we grab hold of this truth daily, remind ourselves, soak ourselves, we will never experience internal heart change, we will never live the life God wants us to live. And that is why Paul is insisting that we constantly think about what is truth.

HONORABLE

In the bible, honor means to respect, esteem or give “weight to”

Matthew 19:19 – Honor our parents

Matthew 18:2-6 – Honor children

1 Timothy 5:17 – Double honor to pastors and church leaders

Ephesians 5:33 – honor husbands

1 peter 3:7 – honor wives

2 tim 2:21 – honor God

Honor is about serving and respecting others. It requires humility, integrity (honesty) and a constant pursuit of righteousness.

Because Jesus exemplified in all the above, It is only by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus that we may keep our minds fixed on ‘whatever is honorable’. To walk in honorable ways with one another won’t be hard if we fix our eyes on Jesus.

Go back home and read and think about the ways in which Jesus exemplified in honoring God and honoring people.

JUST

God sets the standard for what is just and right.

How did Christ treat us justly? – followers of Christ are to follow his example.

Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

PURE

How do I think pure thoughts?

We think pure thoughts when we are awestruck by God’s wisdom, his character, his power, his HOLINESS.

Go back home and read and think about these things, the true definition of PURE is only found in God, therefore as we think and meditate on his purity, we will see how wrethed we are and therefore the cross will look more beautiful each day.

LOVELY

To think about whatever is Lovely is to think about everything that’s we’ve drawn from God’s mercy and grace. Starting with salvation, for the joy and peace we get to experience each day, the family God has given us, the church, the city we live in.

John 1:16 says “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”

This morning I was drawn to think about the lovely things God has done in each of your life. the way you have grown and matured in the last few years, what God is doing in your life.

COMMENDABLE

And finally he says, think about and hold on to whatever is commendable.

What should we think of whats commendable?

“For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods” (Psalm 96:4).”

“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom” (Psalm 145:3).

“You are worthy, our LORD and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).

His greatness

His wisdom

His creativity

His character

Brothers & sisters,  lets refocus our time, energy & efforts to think about these virtues that change us internally and produce long lasting fruits.

As we take communion here’s one more opportunity for us to think and meditate on his love.

Categories
Philippians Sermon

Believers life in Christ : Philippians 4:4-7

Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ, I am delighted to stand before you to share this good news, I am thankful to God and to our pastors for this opportunity. last Sunday we have listen and encouraging sermon on a topic “Finding joy in imperfection” today we will continue from Philippians 4:4-7, under a topic “Believers life’s in Christ”

Read The text: Philippians 4:4-7.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

1. Believer always Rejoice in the Lord. (4) 

When we look around the world we see brokenness everywhere, we see women being rape, women and children are molested, we see divorce, we see broken family, we see corruption everywhere, people killing each other, people suicide out of depression, we see and hear natural calamities all around, we see sickness and diseases everywhere, we see poverty and hunger everywhere, We see brokenness everywhere. Paul Himself is in painful Jail but he is encouraging Philippians believers to rejoice in the Lord. let us see Why Paul is saying to rejoice in the Lord always? 

1. Because of who Christ is? He is God, the second person of Trinity, He is the wonderful counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting father and the prince of peace. Isaiah 9:6. He is our risen saviour, our redeemer, our King, our High Priest, our Chief Shepherd, our Advocate. psalm 23. the Lord is mine. 

2. Because of what He has done? * He sacrifice His life for the sin of the whole Humanity. * He was punished for our sin. * He forgave us our sin. * He is redeemed us. * He gave us the peace of God * He gave us eternal life. * Our name are written in the book of life. Isaiah 53. 

3. Because of what He will do? *He is preparing a place for us * one day He will wipe away all our tears. *He will give us a reward *We will receive the glorified body. *We will be with Him eternally with our saviour. Rev. 21. John 14. My Question Are you rejoicing in the Lord? Or are you rejoicing in something else? It can be your family, it can be your husband or wife, or boyfriend or girls friend It can be money, it can be success it can be pleasures of this world. all this will give us a temporary joy, but the real Joy which Christ offer us is everlasting Joy. 

Illustration: Jim Carey says “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they are not the answer.” 

JESUS IS THE ANSWER Illustration: Paul life was such an inspiring life In his suffering He rejoice in the Lord. His success and prestigious means nothing compare to knowing Christ. His satisfaction and joy is in Christ alone. 2 Cor. 11:24-31. 5 time he received lashes, He was beaten with rods, pelted with stones, 3 times in a ship wrecked, many sleepless night. experience hunger and cold, often without food. often lock up in jail and humiliated. 

Application: Remember as a believers our real joy is in Christ alone and we should rejoice in Him everyday because He love us and He delight in us. We should be happy like apostle Paul in the midst of all pain and sorrow because God has an amazing hope and amazing future for our life. Turn to your neighbour and encourage him/her by saying: 2. Believer live their life in gentle spirit. (5) Gentleness also refers to meekness, humility, modesty, calmness. Illustration: when a adultery woman was brought to Jesus, He deal with gentleness. Jesus was not angry with her but genteelly He correct her and tell her your sin are forgiven go and sin no more. 

Philippians 2. 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

Application: 

Are you gentle in spirit? Let Christ be our perfect model, let us be like him in our everyday life. 

Colossians 3:12. 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 4:6. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Galatians 5:22-23. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. James 1:19. Know this, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Proverb 25:28. A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. 

3. Believer live a prayerful life. (6) # My life Wedding testimony 

Be Anxious / worry for nothing. But in everything By Prayer / Supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be made know to God. 

Worry is sin and worry is doubting the work of God. many people worry so much about life, about their future. about their children life, about their health, about their financial security, about their Job, about their life partner, they worried for so many things in life. but the good news is God doesn’t want us to be worry of life. He want us to totally depend and totally trust in Him. and He want to take care of our life and our problem. 

Matthew 6. Jesus said, not to worry of what you will eat or drink or wear. Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. But Jesus said, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you” Instead of being worried scripture reminds us that we should pray. Believers should live a prayerful life because 1) Prayer help us to connect God. John 15:5. (Phone charging example) 2) Prayer is a command. Phil.4:6. 1 Thess 5:17. (prayerlessness is sin.) 3) Prayer help us to overcome temptation. (Daniel life) 4) Prayer is the antidote to anxiety. phil.4:6. not (world counsellors) 5) Prayer is the greatest weapon against devil. (Christ temptation) Matt 4. (Eph 6.) 

# Christ is our great model, He himself is God but he spent most of His time spending with prayer. if He live a prayer life how much more do we need to pray. # Martin Luther says “I have so much to do that i shall have to spent the first 3 hours in prayer.” 

Do you know what will happen when we don’t pray. 1. You will have less and less desire of God. 2. Stress and anxiety rule over your life. 3. Loss of ongoing sanctification. 4. More Crisis and confusion in life. 5. God doesn’t bring joy to your heart and Go far away from God. 6. Other things fill Gods place. 7. Experience emptiness in heart. 8. We make wrong decision in life. 9. We are easily deceived / easily defeated. 10. Become a stumbling block to others. 11. Fail to share good news to others. 

Application. How is your prayer life? Are you seriously a praying Christian? Are you satisfy with your prayer life? or do you think you need to pray more. I think I need to pray more, You need to pray more, My family / your family need to pray more. We as a church need to pray more. When an individual start praying, when a church start praying, God do wonder works. We should remember a Prayer less christian is a powerless Christian. Let us begin 

Everyday with prayer Spend everyday with prayer Close everyday with prayer. When you are confused pray, when you are weak pray, when you are sad pray, when you lose pray, when you face all kind of hardship pray, when you are happy pray, when you succeed pray, prayer is the powerful weapon where we can reach God. Without prayer we can do nothing, but with prayer we can conquer everything. 

4. Believers have peace of God in their heart. (7) 

Every believers have peace in their life and this peace of God guard their heart and mind. Beloved we are in the christmas season, we know God love us so much that He send His only begotten Son, to bring reconciliation and peace to mankind. 

Isaiah 9:6. 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

He is the prince of peace. 

Romans 5:1. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. John 14:27. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 

The peace that Christ offer is not like the peace of the world, the world give temporary. For example. we see UN peace mission, we saw peace treaty in second world war between Allied and Axis, but the war is still going on in different part of the world, this is the best example of peace offer by the world. 

But Christ gave us the real and eternal peace, you can received His peace by Repenting all your sin and accepting Him as your Lord and Saviour. 

Illustration : Have you any room for Jesus. “Room for thee” 

Application: If you are having hard time trying to find the real inner peace, Taste the real peace of Christ today, don’t wait for another moment received the peace in His name. Matthew 11:28-31. 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Categories
Philippians Sermon

Finding Joy in Imperfection -Philippians 4:1-3

Good morning church! We’ll be continuing our series titled “Joy filled Life” from the letter to the Philippians.

It’s been great learning what “true joy” is as we’ve studied the passages together. And in today’s passage we find that the Philippian church is in the center of a conflict situation – it’s in fact one of the main reasons why Paul wrote this letter. There is so much to learn from the first three verses of chapter 4.   Without wasting much time let’s get into the passage:

Therefore, my brothers,[a] whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[b] help these women, who have labored[c] side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Living in Christian community seemed to be a piece of cake! That’s when I used to watch “church on TV” every Sunday morning. Without much instruction on the importance of church during my first few months as a new believer, I found myself “enjoying” church services from the comforts of my sofa.


In fact, I even thought I had options to chose the kind of church service that suited me – I just had to tune in at the select timing. But a few months later as I joined my first church as a believer – reality hit me – I realized not only was church a people that I was created to be part of but also filled with broken individuals including me.


And that brought a whole new set of questions in my mind. How should I respond when conflict is caused by my own sin?  What is my response supposed to be when I’m caught in the middle of other people’s conflict? Let’s look at today’s passage to get the answers.

 1. We need to persevere in the gospel

Therefore, my brothers,[a] whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

I find it interesting that Paul doesn’t directly jump to what these individuals should or not do with respect to the conflict. But even before that he takes time to explain the gospel and then ask them to “stand firm” or “persevere in the gospel”.


Every time I think of the word “persevere” I think about a marathon – like a 42k marathon. The Christian life is not a 100m dash but is more like a marathon. It’s long-distance and requires great endurance. So what does it mean to persevere in the gospel?

From the previous chapter, we understand that perseverance is connected with “Knowing Jesus”. And I know that we generally use that term “knowing Jesus” quite frequently but what does knowing Him entail? Is it a feeling or a thought about Jesus? Is it merely the knowledge of Scripture? How do I know Jesus? Paul lists out the different ways by which we know Jesus:

  • We know Christ by placing our faith on Him– The most amazing truth of the Bible for us is that Christ died in our place as our substitute. On the cross, Jesus exchanged His pure white robe for our filthy rags. And then after rising from the dead, He declared that whoever would trust in His sacrifice & run to Him for safety would receive His white robe in exchange! That’s what faith in Christ means.    

  • We know Christ by obeying His Word- Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Phil 3:12). Because Christ is God and yet paid the highest ransom amount to save me, I’m not going to take my spiritual life lightly. I’m not doing it to gain favor from God but instead I’m obeying Christ to show my love for my Savior (John 14:15)

  • We know Christ by suffering with Him- Another way by which we get to know Christ intimately is by suffering for Him. If you are a true believer in Christ, then at some point you will be persecuted or mocked or insulted because of your holy life, your message and choices. When that happens to us, we get a glimpse of what it might have been for Christ to endure suffering & also have the opportunity reflect His love and forgiveness to those who oppose us.

  • We know Christ by being transformed into Him- 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor 15:19) Think about it – if all that was planned for us is to live on this earth for 60-70 years with no eternal consequence, then all what we’re doing is absolutely useless. Instead the Bible tells us that because God is God & faithful to His promise, we will be supernaturally transformed into Christ’s glorious, perfect body!

In the church today “knowing Christ” has unfortunately been reduced to just gaining biblical knowledge about Jesus or merely a feeling that you experience during a worship set.


As we look at this passage, we see that when the Bible speaks about knowing Jesus – it is meant to be deeply personal, active and transformative!!!


Knowing Jesus means becoming like Him! That’s the goal. If our knowledge isn’t making us look like Jesus, then something isn’t right about it.  That’s why it requires “perseverance”.

There was once a generous king who wanted to adopt a young boy from his country. All the bright and talented boys lined up for adoption but to everyone’s surprise, this king instead wanted to adopt a boy from the local prison!


When the king comes to the prison, he notices a boy who is battered, bruised and fully covered in dirt. The one whom no one wanted to sit beside was chosen to be the son of the King! The King brought the child home, bathed him, cleaned his wounds and gave him new clothes to wear.


The King later has a conversation with the boy & tells him that he is so glad to be his father and no one’s ever going to change that. But he also tells him that the boy will need to go to another place for a few years to undergo some training so that he understands what it means to be the son of a King.


His past life was so different from this new life and he needed to be trained. Right before the boy goes out for training, the king gives him a handwritten letter where he’s listed out all the things that he’s said to him so far with his own sign and seal.

Whenever the boy doubts or is tempted to leave the training, he can read the letter to be reminded that he is the son of the King and no longer a prisoner. He should wait for the King who will certainly come one day to bring him home!

Sometimes people ask “how much time should I read the Bible and pray”? I don’t think that’s the best question to ask. You my child. You’re not a prisoner anymore. Spending time with me through the Word and prayer is how you get to know my heart and my will for you.

Some other times people ask “Is it okay if I’m selective in my obedience?” The response would be – You’re my child. You’re not a prisoner anymore. You’ve been pulled out of prison to live a freely for me.

Someone else might ask “God is very important to me but above Him are my parents, my job and my relationship” You’re my child now. Remember how I rescued you from those things (sometime good things) that enslaved and imprisoned you. Don’t go back to that now. You’re mine.

Not only do we need to persevere in the gospel but also

2. We need to express the gospel (especially in the midst of conflict in church)

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[b] help these women, who have labored[c] side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Euodia and Syntyche were women leaders in the Philippian church who also were actively involved in Paul’s ministry. We don’t know what caused the disagreement between the two of them but it seems like it was left unresolved and began to affect the church internally.


It could be that some people were thinking “How is it that these leaders are not able to resolve their differences?” Some others probably thought “this is what happens when we get ourselves in church ministry, things get quite messy. It’s better to stay out of it”.


And I think it brings us to this important truth – that there isn’t a perfect church – even a church as faithful as the church in Philippi had major disagreements among the more solid & active believers!

Even as I’ve been part of a few churches myself and visited others, I’ve witnessed how many people have been hurt by church and have considered leaving it. The reasons I feel are:

1. Church becomes an idol- We demand perfection from the church or the pastors and when they aren’t able to meet up to our expectations or our needs, we end up getting angry and frustrated. In one of my previous churches I remember telling a brother once how I felt let down by the church because they weren’t appreciating my efforts to present the gospel in creative ways. I only found opposition each time. And he told me something that stuck to my mind, he said “Whenever we make the church or people to be the ultimate thing, we will always be let down. Jinson, you need to look up to Christ who is the only perfect One and who is able to completely satisfy the longings of your heart”. So true – I was looking at the church to be my Savior and Satisfier.

There is a famous quote that says “Church isn’t a museum for saints but a hospital for broken sinners”.

2. Understanding that the church is still in need of grace:  Someone like me who is usually non-confrontational tries their best to avoid any kind of conflict. But what I end up forgetting is as those conflicts are being addressed through the gospel, it becomes the perfect place to display God’s grace.


I miss out on the grace lesson that God wants to teach me during those moments.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed but your biggest idols are revealed not when everything’s going great but when you’re in the midst of conflict. Selfishness, pride, insecurity – all of that gets revealed and so it’s a wonderful opportunity for the church to understand grace and repentance when it’s dealt with the gospel.

Which is why Paul in v3 asks the church (his true companion) to intervene and help reconcile these two sisters.Their role in this is not to GOSSIP about the situation but rather aid with the reconciliation process. Here are a few application points that come to mind:

i) We need to pray for the unity of the church (especially if we are aware of disagreements from within)– We shouldn’t assume that because the church has believers that conflict will hardly be there. It’s quite the contrary.

ii) We need to actively engage disagreeing parties- To reiterate the role of the church is not to be a silent spectator nor gossip, but find ways to make reconciliation possible.


And when the disagreeing parties are in front of you, what should you tell them? It’s not to take sides or talk about platitudes. What they need to hear is the gospel. That’s the only thing that can change their hearts and bring about genuine restoration.

iii) We need to trust the church to help us resolve our disagreements (be it in marriage, family, friends and church members)-  It might be the case for some of us that our first point of contact to help resolve conflicts are unbelievers but we all know that they’ll not be able to point your hearts to Jesus.


They’ll probably only be able to provide some sort of worldly compatibility advice. Instead what if you’re able to talk to few mature believers who can actually help you navigate through your issues by telling you about Jesus and His sacrifice? But for that, it calls us to be willing to open ourselves to our church speaking into our lives.


Sometime back a brother shared an experience of a bitter fight he got into with his brother during a GC. Things got so ugly that the elders had to put them in separate rooms temporarily and later brought them together and the members of the GC “gospeled” them through that process.


Now it was embarrassing for them at first but that day they had the privilege to practice grace and repentance before Christ and the church. Today that brother is one of the leaders at the church & he retells the story as a way to explain the beauty of the church in helping him reconcile with his brother.

I want to leave you with this final thought – Yes, it’s true that we are experiencing present conflict due to our sin and brokenness, but Christ will have the final word! In a very beautiful way Christ is stitching up His body that will one day be a bright, spotless bride! Don’t look at people, don’t look at a perfect church to satisfy you – look at Christ and His perfection! Know Him & Become Like Him!

Categories
Jude Sermon

The Doxology- Jude 1:24-25

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

Let’s start by answering this question: “What is a Doxology?” Put most simply, it’s praise; it’s adoration; it’s exalting God. But it’s praising Him in a way that operates by a sort of formula. And the formula is actually important. Here’s how it goes. The author will make a statement about something that God has done, or something that God is doing, and then points to the attributes of God that support those statements.

For example, you could say, “To Him who frees the captive and rescues the oppressed, to Him belong unmatched compassion & mercy.” Or “To Him who is able to heal the sick & give sight to the blind, to Him belong all wisdom & power.” So, it’s essentially an overflow of praise and worship of God by stating something that God has done or is doing, and by highlighting the attributes that have contributed to that action.“God has done this, because He is like this.”

That’s different than a Benediction. There are many benedictions listed out in Scripture; usually at the end of a letter like this one. A benediction is different because it flows from God to His people. It’s God announcing a blessing over His people. A Doxology moves in the opposite direction; it’s the people of God blessing Him as they worship, adore and exalt His name. That’s what Jude is doing at the end of this letter. He’s highlighting the work that God does in the life of the believer, but not in a cold, academic sense. Rather, it’s coming from a place of deep worship and praise from the heart of Jude.

You can almost sense Jude’s heart overflowing with praise, and worship and exaltation of God because of everything He’s done & because of who He is. It’s almost like Jude breaks out into song at the end of the letter. That’s what the Doxology is. Now, here’s why that’s important for us. The goal of Jude’s letter is to exhort us to contend for the faith by keeping ourselves in the love of God. So, we’re certainly called to do things. But Jude reminds us that everything we do must be rooted in our identity in Jesus Christ. That’s what leads to this kind of worship.

I think that’s important for us to remember this morning. When we interact with God’s Word, it isn’t meant to be an academic exercise where we’re just gleaning information. No, the information is for the purpose of transformation, where we’re living differently because of our new identity in Jesus Christ. In other words, if our study of Scripture is just about information, we’re in trouble. Have you ever thought about this:  Judas heard all Jesus’ sermons. That’s something to think about, isn’t it? Judas listened to all of Jesus’ teachings. Heck, even the demons have all of the information about God. They know what’s true. But that doesn’t mean that they’re experiencing the joy, and freedom, and peace, and satisfaction and contentment that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and as Lord. Because theology apart from a heart captured by the gospel is just reduced to dangerous information. But, on the other hand, theology that’s being applied to a gospel-soaked heart leads to transformation. And that gives birth to the ever-increasing, white-hot, worship of God. That’s what the Doxology was for Jude, and it’s where our hearts must land as well.

So, with that in mind let’s break this down according to the formula that we just discussed. Question 1:  “What does Jude say that God has done, or is doing, or even will do?” And question 2:  “What are the attributes of God that have contributed to His actions?” Let me lay out the mechanics of this up front, and then we can move through and unpack it all. First, Jude lists 2 actions of God:

1) God keeps us from stumbling

2) He presents us blameless before His glory with great joy

We’ll explore the truth & the implications of those 2 areas. And then we’ll spend just a few minutes ascribing God the worship He’s due by listing the attributes of God that have contributed to these 2 things. Jude points to God’s:

A) Glory

B) Majesty

C) Dominion

D) Authority

And then, at the end of our time, I want to show you how all of this works together to drive our hearts to Jesus. So let’s start by talking about what it means that “God keeps us from stumbling.” In fact, before we even get to that statement, let’s just start with this phrase:  “To Him who is able.” Let’s just sit in & be reminded of that this morning — OUR GOD IS ABLE. Isn’t that amazing? He is able to do all things. Some of you just need to be reminded of that this morning. That, no matter the circumstance that you find yourself in, your God is able!

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages” (Romans 16:25)

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20)

“I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

“For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18)

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

We could go on, but I think you get the point:  Our God is ABLE. Do you realize what that means? No one is too far gone. No situation is beyond Him. Nothing is outside of His reach. All things are possible with our God. He is the One who knows no beginning and no end. He’s the One who created everything out of nothing. HE IS ABLE!! And what does He use His ability to do? “HE KEEPS YOU FROM STUMBLING.” This is talking about perseverance — making it to the end. We have a hand in that, for sure. But it’s based on God’s ability and strength, not our own.

Here’s a principle that has helped me: “God PRESERVES us by empowering us to PERSEVERE in Him.” Here’s what that means practically: Everything that God has called us to walk in fits perfectly with the fact that it’s His power that’s enabling and fueling all of it. In other words, His working enables our working.

We are being kept by God as He’s at work in us according to His purposes. And that is a miracle! If you were to just sit down and think about your sin patterns. If you were to think about what you struggle with — the tendencies that you have to rebel against God in your heart. When I think about that stuff, it’s a miracle that He keeps me. But He does — praise God He does! And, it’s not just that He keeps us from stumbling. That’s incredible in an of itself. That already causes worship to spring up in the heart. But, it goes beyond that.

Jude says that He’s able to present us BLAMELESS before the presence of His glory. Now, I don’t know about you, but this is what absolutely floors me. Talk about a miracle! When you start to think about the Holiness of God, and the grandeur, and the splendor of His glory. The idea that we would ever be able to stand in the presence of His glory is stunning. Because our sin has separated us from the presence of God and the ability to be in the presence of His glory. That was all lost in the fall when sin entered the world.

You get a picture of just how severe this separation is when you think about Moses’ conversation with God in Exodus 33. You might remember that Moses us up on the mountain with God and he asks this question:  (it’s verse 18) he says, “Please show me your glory!” Remember God’s answer? “NO!” In verse 20 God says, “You can’t see my face, because no one can see me and live.” Why? Why can no one behold the Lord & live? Because He’s holy. Which means that He’s perfect, He’s spotless, He’s righteous, He’s completely without blemish or defect. And we are broken, we are fractured by sin, corrupted, and blemished. Romans 3:23 says, “we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Ephesians 2 says, “we are dead in our trespasses and sins..” Titus 3 says that “we hate each other and are ruled by malice toward God.”

Moses can’t behold the glory of God because it would kill him because of the separation that sin brings. So, what does God do instead? He says to Moses, “I want you to go stand on this rock. I’m going to put you in the crevasse of the rock and then I will cover you with my hand. And I’ll cause my glory to pass you by as I’m veiling you. And as I take away my hand, I’m going to let you see my back.” And, that’s what God did. And Exodus 34 tells us that, after Moses came down the mountain, there was a light coming off of his face that shone so bright that he actually had to put a veil over his face when he talked to people. And that was just from seeing a glimpse of the back of God moving away from him.

Allow this truth to wash over your soul this morning. Because God has placed us IN THE ROCK we are able, not just to catch a glimpse of God’s back moving away from us, but we are able to behold His glory and by changed by it. Because of Jesus, our lives are defined, not by separation from God, but by reconciliation to God. Where we’ve been given access to His glory; which is the thing that is transforming us. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

It’s His glory that is driving our sanctification, as we behold it now. But it’s His glory that will complete this work, as we’re presented to Him and made glorious in Him. Jude is giving us a picture of what it will look like to stand before God in judgment, and be declared BLAMELESS. Not because of our own ability, but because of His ability. If this is based on our own effort — our own merit — then we’re guilty and under His condemnation. We are able to stand on the last day, not because of anything done by us, but because of what God has done for us, and to us, and because of His power to sustain us.

Listen to how the author of Hebrews paints the picture of our presentation before God based on His ability and work. This is Hebrews 12:21-24: “Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

This thing that made Moses tremble and would cause the death of anyone who beheld it, is what we’re presented before — BLAMELESS — because we have been made righteous by Jesus Christ (the mediator of the new covenant). Now let me ask you, what does that to to your soul? Can you feel worship begin to swell up inside you? I hope so! This is all leading to an overflow of praise to God for who He is and for the attributes that contribute to this incredible salvation that He’s purchased for us.

His Glory, which is the holiness of God on display. God’s glory is the manifestation of His holiness. It’s the infinite beauty and greatness of God on display. His Majesty, which is God’s Sovereign power at work to keep us, to sustain us, to preserve us and to present us blameless. His Dominion, which is His rule over all. It’s based on the fact that God created everything and so He owns everything — including you and me. Which means that He gets to exercise His authority as the final arbiter over all things, because their is nothing higher than Him.

All of this is contributing to God’s ability to keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless before the presence of His glory. Now, with all of that in view, where does that leave us? Well, here’s where all of this is leading us. I believe that Jude’s intention of the letter is that our hearts would be driven to Jesus Christ, because He’s the thing that connects all of the dots for us. Pay close attention to this phrase in our passage:  “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jude is saying, “Here’s who God is, and here’s what God has done. The only way we can experience that is through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is no other way!”

The gospel is glorious, but it’s gloriously exclusive. It has to be, because the problem of sin is too great of an offense — the only option is death. Which is why the only way to be reconciled to God, the only way to be made blameless, the only way to have right standing with Him again and to have your sin removed, is for God Himself to trade places with you.This is substitutionary atonement. Jesus Christ died in your place, taking your sin upon Himself, so that you can have right standing before God and be reconciled to Him. Paul is explicit in 2 Corinthians 5:21:  “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Jesus was explicit in John 14:6:  “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The truth is that no one can be kept from stumbling unless it’s through Jesus Christ. And no one can be presented blameless before the glory of God unless it’s through Jesus Christ. And we are only found in Jesus Christ by grace and through faith in Him.

Categories
Philippians Sermon

Joy-filled Pursuits – Philippians 3:15-21

Today’s passage Philippians 3:15-21

Throughout the letter of Philippians, Paul is encouraging us to live a joy-filled life, and as he is addressing the heart issues and giving us Kingdom perspectives he is also helping us with practical bits of advice to reach our goal, the goal to know Christ and live the kind of life God intended for us to live – Blessed, Joyful, Satisfactory and Wonderful.

The passage we are looking at today is one such portion where Paul is giving us helpful, practical advice and therefore I urge you to pay close attention and receive it with an open heart because who knows this could be a life-changing moment for you today.

Practical Advice #1: Seek to be Mature in your Faith 

In verse 15, Paul writes “Let those of us who are mature”, in KJV version it says “those of us who are perfect”.

In this statement, Paul is addressing to those who are mature because he intends that some in the church are mature, but what exactly does Paul mean when he uses the word ‘mature’ or ‘perfect’.

In the worldly sense, the word mature & perfect would in relation to a person who has achieved the highest level of intellect and maybe the highest level of perfection in everything he does. 

But that’s not what Paul would define it, because he would not claim to have achieved that level of perfection himself. In 3v12, Paul writes “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

Here’s how Paul explains maturity in 1 Corinthians 13:11, he says “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

According to Paul, to be mature is to move out of the baby state and continue growing from being a baby to a man.

To Paul a mature person is not baby Christians, they are not the ones who stopped growing in their faith after they first became a believer, instead, they are the once who continue to grow in their knowledge of the Gospel.

As per Paul’s statement in v15 “they are the one’s who think this way”, in saying so he is referring to what he said earlier in 2v5-8 saying “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

According to Paul, a mature Christian is the one who has the mindset of Jesus; one who is continually emptying himself at the throne of God’s grace and one who continues to stay humble and obedient to the point of death. 

Paul is expecting us to be found mature as we grow in our Christian life and in verse 16 he says “let us hold fast to what we have attained”. 

Paul also refers to those who think otherwise in v15, those who are immature. They are men who are still babies; they can maybe articulate the Gospel in words but are far away from real heart transformation.

Brothers and sisters, here’s how we know we are still baby Christians. 

 Baby Christians are Lazy – Hebrews 5:11 “We have so much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.” 

“Slow to learn” is the translation of the Greek word, “Lazy.”

Baby Christians know little about the content of the Bible – They fail to meditate and investigate the Scriptures that has the power to set us free from all our bondages. Psalms 119:36 – He inclines our heart to his word, Psalms 119:18 – He opens our eyes of understanding, Psalms 90:14 – He satisfies our souls. These are all nutritious food for the nourishment of our spiritual being to grow to be a man.

Baby Christians Handle the Word of God Poorly – 

2 Corinthians 2:17 – For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

They read the word just like everyone else but misapplies it by adding human understanding and even go about teaching the same to others.

Baby Christians have inadequate knowledge of Christ – As Paul mentions in Philippians 3:10-12, they know not the power of His resurrection, and they fail to participate in the sufferings of Christ.

Baby Christians are Christians whose attention is still dominated by earthly things – Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things.”

Baby Christians are those who are unwilling to pay the cost of being a follower of Jesus – Luke 14:33 “those of you who do not give up everything cannot be my disciple.”

Yes, it is possible to attain joy-filled Christian life but not if we are failing to grow in maturity and hold fast to who we have received. And we grow in maturity when we grow into an intimate relationship with Christ and the church.

Practical advice #2: Imitate those who imitate Christ 

In verse 17, Paul goes on to say “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

As you all must have already figured out, it is not easy to live a Christian life; there will be challenges along the way, there will be doubts and confusion in our mind, there will be circumstances that will pull us down, there will be persecution as a follower of Christ. 

God is not unaware of all that we go through; in fact, his grace and providence (help) are always with us. With full confidence, we can join with King David and say “Even though I walk through the valley of shadows of death, I will fear no evil, for he is with me” “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

One such providence that God has given us to combat fear, doubts, challenges and confusion are the faithful men and women of God he’s placed in our lives.

And that is why Paul is saying “Imitate me as I imitate Christ”, and “imitate those who walk according to the example you have in me”. Like the example of Timothy & Epapharaditus as we learned from their lives in the earlier passages.

In difficult times, it could be hard sometimes to see Christ and follow his example at all times, in our wretchedness, pride, frustrations and sadness we can fail to Christ in our situation. And what Paul is suggesting, which I don’t see as unbiblical, is that in such cases imitate Godly and faithful men who are imitating Christ. 

In doing so, we are not looking at people as an authority but as examples who follow the real authority. Not for authority but for inspiration. 

Which means we don’t make an idol out of the person we are imitating, but we are watching them respond to fear, doubt, frustration, confusion, suffering and disaster that honours Christ, and we do the same.

  • Imitate the men and women in the Bible.
  • Imitate the men and women in Church history who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Gospel, who trusted God in their hard circumstances and honoured him. Read their stories and find your inspiration.
  • Imitate you immediate Church leaders who God has placed over you as shepherds
  • Imitate you fellow brother & sister who walk faithfully alongside you.

We can attain a joy-filled life if we seek and imitate Godly men.

Practical Advice #3:  Watch out for the enemies of the cross of Christ

18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

And finally, in this passage, Paul also advises us to watch out for the enemies of the cross of Christ. And just as sorrowful is Paul as he is saying these words, I am sad too in telling you that Yes, there exist, men who seem to be godly men from outside, who seem to say the right things, quote scriptures, pray earth-shattering prayers, but they are enemies of God. Jesus calls them “ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing”, the agents of the devil himself, Jesus said you would know them by their fruits.

Here’s how Paul helps us identify such men:

  • Their God is their belly – People who believe that this life on earth is all about eating, drinking, and being merry and become gluttons, alcoholics, and seekers of pleasure rather than seekers of God.
  • They glory in their shame – People who boast of those things of which they ought to be ashamed.
  • Their minds are set on earthly things – People who are taken up in the pursuit of their sensual and earthly enjoyments rather than in Christ.

Paul is urging that we chose wisely the men whom we imitate.

And finally, Paul closes this chapter with a word of encouragement and giving us hope for the future.

As we walk faithfully as mature Christians, ones who’ve been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus. Pressing on in all circumstances, imitating one another in the Lord, be watchful of wolves. 

Our final destiny is going to be even more glorious and mind-blowing. 

We will be citizens in heaven, transformed into glorious bodies.

It’s up to us what choice we make to get us there.