Partnership in the Gospel

I remind you of something that we just were singing together. Unless the Lord does raise the house in vain, its builders strive. I hope we see that unless God enables us and helps us and empowers us to do this thing called the work of the church, it's just going to be the efforts of man. It's just going to be our flesh, and we don't want that. Although we work for the Lord and in the Lord ultimately we want Him to do this work through us in building this thing called the church. It's our church, that which has been entrusted to us, but it is His church. We do remember what Jesus said. He said that He would build His church.

I enjoy that worship as always. Well, let's take our Bible. Let's turn back to Philippians chapter 1. I know I probably fooled a few of you by taking you to Philippians this morning and not being in our study through the book of Ephesians. Now I did read quite a few verses, verses 1 to 14, but we're just going to look at a few verses right here in this group. I wanted us to see the fact that Paul was writing to the church there at Philippi, and he was encouraging them, and he was also mentioning the fact that he was in a Roman prison. Basically it would be good for you to go and read all of the book.

It's four chapters because there's quite a bit that we could learn there. Really this morning's message is a part of several messages that I believe will come in the future. Now here in the verses we really have two people. We have two peoples. First we have the Apostle Paul. Paul identifies himself there at the beginning and he also mentions Timothy. And then second we have the Philippian church. All of this is easy to see right there in the greeting. If we study the book we continue to see that the primary people are peoples, Paul and the church. The believers there in Philippi and then we have Paul.

Now we need to see the connection between Paul and this church. From the date of the writing of the letter they actually go way back. If you know your history here you know they go ten years way back. Now this all started on Paul's second missionary journey when Paul was in Troas. Something monumental happened. One night Paul had a vision, a dream. He had a vision of a man of Macedonia who appeared to him saying come over to Macedonia and help us. Now if we're honest that kind of thing always makes Baptist nervous doesn't it? Think about it. Baptist get nervous when we read that verse. But what happened?

Immediately after that vision Paul went to Macedonia along with Timothy and Luke and Silas. And if you know the events at Acts 16 you know that they landed there at Neopolis and they made their way inland to Philippi. And this was a monumental event not because Paul had a vision or a dream but because the work that ended up there in Philippi became the first church on European soil. Now we may need to be reminded of how this work started.

Paul and his group started their work on the Sabbath day the text says because the city did not have a Jewish synagogue they went down to the riverside where a group were there in the habit of meeting to pray. And one of these women that was there was from the city of Thyatira. She was a dealer in purple fabrics. Her name was Lydia. The text says she was a worshipper of God although she did not know the message of Jesus or the cross. And after listening to the gospel two wonderful things happened for Lydia. First of all God opened up her heart and then she believed.

And when she accepted the message of the cross and the gospel she became the very first convert to Christ on European soil. Some of you know the rest of the story. Lydia was at the last convert there in Philippi as Paul and his companions were going for prayer one day. They were met by a young girl who was possessed with a spirit of divination. She was telling future events. This young girl made her masters a great deal of money by fortune telling. And after this meeting the young girl followed Paul and his group crying out crying out these men are servants of the most high God who proclaim to you the way of salvation.

Well the Apostle Paul wasn't going to put up with this. So he commanded the demon to lead the young girl and when the her master saw that they lost their ability to make money off this young girl they were they were angry. They turned on Paul and in their anger they hauled Paul and Silas into the marketplace before the authorities and the Roman officials then beat them and threw them in prison. There's more to the story. At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God while in prison. That doesn't describe how we would be.

Suddenly there was a great earthquake that shook the foundation of the prison and it opened up all of the prison doors freeing the prisoners all of their shackles and chains fell off. Well when the jailer woke up he was afraid because he was responsible for the prisoners. He was afraid that they had escaped so he took his own sword and he was about to kill himself. But Paul stopped him and he told him that none of the prisoners had run away.

And then the jailer cried out to Paul and Silas, "Sirs what must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." And here we have another convert to Christ that first church there in Europe. You know I thought about the demon possessed girl. Was she converted? The text really doesn't say. We can only speculate. It could be that Lydia was the first and the demon possessed girl was the second and then the jailer. We do not know. Well in a nutshell what I have given you is the birth of the church there in the city of Philippi, the first church on European soil. And this was truly a monumental work.

Now if we fast forward about 10 years we have this letter. Paul is writing this letter to the Philippians while he was there in a Roman prison. And if you read the letter you will see Paul alluding to the fact that he was in prison. Now if we go so far as to examine the letter we will see that there are a lot of things that are going on. Now I'm going to give you a list. These are some things that jumped out at me this week and this is an incomplete list. In the beginning of the letter Paul was writing to tell the Philippians of his situation simply that he was in prison. He starts that in verse 12.

In chapter 2 he was explaining why he was sending the faithful servant of Paparditis back to him. And he starts that in chapter 2 verse 25. And in chapter 3 he was writing to warn them of false teachers. And of course he was also writing to urge true prominent women in the church to work out their conflict towards harmony in the Lord. We see that in chapter 4. And at the end of the book he was thanking them for their generous financial gift that was delivered to him by a Paparditis. And we see that in chapter 4 verse 10. He was even recognizing them for their financial generosity from the past.

But in chapter 1 verses 3 to 5 Paul calls to their attention what I think is one of the most important points of the letter. He says that he was thankful to God and filled with prayerful joy because of their participation in the work of the gospel. Now let me repeat this because you need to see this. Paul says that he was thankful to God and he was filled with prayerful joy because of their participation in the work of the gospel. Look back at verses 3, 4 and 5. Paul says I thank my God. Just a thankfulness. And all my remembrance of you always offering prayer with joy. There's the joy filled prayer.

Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you. In view of your or because of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. And that is what I want us to focus on this morning. This participation in the gospel. I'm reading from the New American Standard. The English Standard says this partnership in the gospel. The King James says this fellowship in the gospel. Now I question why am I focusing on these verses? What is the point of the message this morning? I want us to see that what is going on between Paul and the Philippian church really speaks to where we are in the life of our church today.

And that's because we partner with Anchored in Truth Ministries. A network of like minded churches within the United States and around the world for one purpose partnership in the gospel. We partner with fellow pastors. We partner with missionaries and church plants and church planners and churches and people just like you basically for one reason. It is a fellowship and a partnership in the gospel for the greater progress or the advancement of the gospel. So this morning I want to analyze this partnership here that we see in the book of Philippians. Now not in an exhaustive manner. There's no way to be exhaustive here.

It would take several messages and I think I did say that we will come back to this in the future. So I would say it like this. This could be the first message in a series of messages. So this is what I'm calling partnership in the gospel. The title comes right out of the verse. You probably could have guessed that. Now I want to go ahead and tell you what I will do. I will add to that title. I know sometimes I give the title at the beginning of the message. Sometimes I give it at the end of the message and sometimes I will add to that. So we're going to look at partnership in the gospel. I want us to focus on three things here.

Their participation, this gospel, and the goal. Really easy for you to write down and follow me. I want us to look at their participation, this gospel, and the goal. So let's start off. I want us to see number one, their participation. That comes right out of verse five. Now right away we can see that all of the different translations that we study use different words. I mentioned this. The New American uses participation. The English Standard Version says partnership. The King James says fellowship. Now why three different words here? Why is that the case? It's because this word can mean all three. All three of the words are correct.

Paul is talking about a fellowship. He is talking about a partnership. He is talking about a participation. And we need to work to see what Paul is saying here. Paul was thanking them. Don't we see that in the verse? He was thanking them and thanking God for their fellowship and their association in gospel ministry. And it was really more than that. This isn't like a churchwide fellowship meal where we eat together and we fellowship over a meal. Paul was referring to the fact that he and the Philippian Christians had fellowship in the gospel but it was more. This fellowship produced a union and a partnering in the gospel.

Theirs was a participation in the gospel. Paul and these Philippian believers, they had a bond, a unique bond because they shared a mutual saving relationship in Christ. They had a bond and a partnership in that they shared a unique personal experience. God birthed this church there at Philippi through Paul and in them. And there was more. Paul and these Philippian believers had a partnership in that God had formed them together for the work of the gospel. So they were partners participating in this work of the gospel. That was their fellowship. And we need to work to see what this is not. We need to think about this.

We need to work and we need to examine and see what this is not. This was not simply sharing a meal together in a fellowship hall. You know we're Baptist, we think about fellowship, we think about food and we think about a fellowship meal. That's okay. And this fellowship was not necessarily just over a cup of coffee or a meal. This was more than sitting down on the same pew even during a sermon. This was more than simply being members of the same church. This was more than sharing the same theology and theological convictions. And this was more than sharing the same convictions about how to live the Christian life.

Paul, Timothy, a Paparidotus who's in the book here, these Philippians who were not named they all had a bond that was forged by God which centered on their common salvation in Christ. They were all formed and called by God to partner together for the sake of the gospel. And Paul was thankful to God and joyful in his prayer for their fellowship and partnership and participation in the gospel. Now let's go back and read the verses. And maybe some of the phrases and words will ring a little different in your ear.

Paul says, "I thank my God," see his thankfulness, "in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy, in my every prayer for you all, because of or in view of your participation, your partnership, your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." You know, sometimes I will use my imagination. I just imagine that Lydia was a part of this partnership, was she not? Maybe when these words were read, she was there listening and her heart warmed. She said, "Oh yeah, amen. I've been a partner all along." I think about the Philippian jailer. I would imagine he was there too.

And when he heard these words, he said the same thing, "Oh yes, I'm a partner. I'm a partaker in this fellowship and in this union." What about these two ladies who had a conflict? That's an interesting story. They were a part of this fellowship. Maybe the little girl who was demon possessed, maybe she did come to Christ and she was spiritually united with all of the Philippians with Timothy and Silas and Paul. And she shared that fellowship to participate and partner in the gospel. When I think about our church, as our church relates to anchored in truth, I think about all of this participation and this partnering.

Now think back to how it all began. Some of you know this story. Many of you know back in our old days at Nola Baptist Church when we were rebirthing and reforming and really starting over, I reached out to anchored in truth pastors at Grace Life Church in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. I reached out for help and encouragement because we were so all along. And that partnership rocked all along for a little while. And as our church grew and we had some major decisions to make, I had Brother Jeff Noblett, Pastor of Grace Life Church at the Shoals come down and preach. And the whole time he was here, I was honest with him about our church.

He asked a lot of questions and he was taking it all in. And right before he left town, we were meeting there at Cracker Barrel and I was pretty low, tired, weary. And I was about to say, "Brother, could we just have a little more encouragement, a little more direction, a little more help?" About the time I was going to say those type of words to him, he said, "Let's go somewhere else where we can talk." So we went across the street to where he was staying, the Holiday Inn Express, and we went into a little conference room there. And he said, "Brother, I've made some phone calls to people on the board of anchored in truth.

I've called a few and he said, 'This is what I want to do. We want to help you.'" He said, "I look at your church and how it's growing." And he said, "You're bi-vocational and I hear you talking about moving and praying about moving and being more than what you've always been." And he said, "Brother, you'll never do it being alone. You need our help." He said, "Let me come down with some of my ministers. Let me speak to your men." He said, "Let us help." You know what he said? Let us partner. Let us participate. Let us join together and have a unique fellowship and a unique bond.

He said, "Let us participate." So when I think about this verse and I read these verses and I think about our relationship with anchored in truth, I think about their participation and our participation and how that came to be. But then there's a little more here I want us to see. I want us to look at the breadth of this partnership. We see this in verse 5. Paul says, "In view of or because of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now." Paul says this partnership started from the beginning and it has lasted 10 years. Paul is speaking back of when he and his companions first came to Philippi and began that work.

He is speaking of back when Lydia was the first convert to Christ and he's speaking back to when the Philippian jailer came to Christ. And back when the church was birthed, when God started that unique work. And Paul was reminding them that they had faithfully been partners, faithfully been participants in the gospel work from the beginning up until when he wrote that letter. You know that one little phrase is a lesson. A lesson in longevity. A lesson in commitment. I can't tell you how many times I've been in churches where ministry opportunities, admissions endeavors would just come and go.

I mean there would be a new fad, a new emphasis and those things would come and go. If we had a show of hands we could all raise our hands but not the Philippians. They had longevity. What did he say? From the first day until now, from the first day until now, you've remained true to your commitment and see we have to remain true to our commitment. And what I mean by that is we have to remain true to what? To our participation in the gospel. Our partnership in the gospel. Look at the depth of this partnership. Now to see the depth of this partnership we've really got to read all of the letter. Maybe that can be some of your homework.

We really don't have time to look at all that the Philippians did in their partnership with Paul. But if you do look at what the rest of the book says, you'll see that they did three things which I believe truly tell us that their partnership and their participation was true. If you study the book you will see that they gave three things. They gave their hearts to the work. They gave men for the work and they gave their finances to the work. It was because they gave their hearts that they gave one of their best men. A Paparditis was one of the finest men they could have ever committed to the work.

It was because they gave their hearts that they gave generously of their finances to the work. And note this, this is one of the poorest churches from the poorest regions in the Roman Empire. And Paul says that they gave generously. And if you do your history here you'll find out that they gave to Paul and the ministry even when other churches would not. In church the depth of a true gospel partnership is giving. Giving of heart, giving of men, and giving of finances. They always go together. The mark of a deep true commitment to gospel partnership is this, is the giving and the investment of heart and self and who you are.

It is the investment of men and manpower and ultimately it is the investment of monies. Yes monies. If you know the rest of the story you know that Paul was content in all things. But yet he did need monies in financial support. And listen folks my prayer for our church and my challenge to you and all of us is that in our participation that we will grow in our partnership not just with anchored in truth but in the gospel within our town, in our city. That in our participation that we will grow more and more in our depth and in our commitment to the work. Then I want us to see number two, this gospel. I want us to see this gospel.

We've seen their participation in the gospel. We've seen the breadth and the depth of their participation. But now I want us to see this gospel that we see here in verse five. Now if we're not careful we can zoom past this portion of the verse and never pause to see what is really here. Now if we do slow down enough to ask what the gospel is here we most likely will say that Paul is referring to the gospel message. We can easily think that Paul is saying that they have been faithful all these years to the message of the gospel and even partnering and proclaiming the gospel. Certainly that's part of it.

Yes Paul is definitely speaking of the gospel message which speaks to evangelism. It was the gospel and evangelism that brought Paul and these Philippian Christians together. So that could easily be seen. But he is also speaking to the entirety of the gospel ministry. The construction of the language here in verse five, the description of how this church participated in Paul's ministry and other scriptures like 2 Corinthians chapter 8 tell us that the Philippian church they were faithful to the advancement of the gospel and the entirety of gospel ministry that follows after. Simply this was the entire work that bound them together.

It was the entire work of the gospel that they were participating in. It wasn't just the gospel message. It wasn't just evangelism. There was another way of saying it. They were bound together and partners in preaching the gospel and in evangelism yes. But they were just as committed to the entirety of the work that followed. The Philippian church and these Christians were participants in the entire gospel enterprise. Now think about it. In their support of Paul they supported the entirety of gospel work. In supporting Paul they participated and supported true apostolic ministry.

In supporting Paul they partnered in gospel evangelism and the lost coming to Christ. In supporting Paul they participated in organization, the organizing of those who were brought to Christ into the local church. And through Paul they also partnered in the work of protecting the purity of the gospel and working to produce health in the local church. Simply this gospel that they participated in spoke to the entirety of the gospel ministry, the entirety of the gospel enterprise. Now in thinking about anchored in truth and all of the churches associated with that work I think about an individual named Josh Tancordo.

If you know Josh's testimony he has a unique testimony as a church planter. Quite a few years ago he and his wife and one other individual left Grace Life Church of Muscle Shoals and they went to Pittsburgh. They didn't know a soul. Three people. Josh, his wife, and one other lady. And they moved there in 2014 and they started the work of the church in their home with Bible studies and personal one on one evangelism. Ultimately that led to planning a church in 2016. And what do you see? Partnership in evangelism, partnership in spreading the gospel. That led to a true and legitimate church plan.

And lo and behold that church has grown and now they are reproducing, they are sending others out, others out to do the same thing. And what I'm showing you is this. Partnering with an individual like Josh Tancordo and Redeeming Grace Church there in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is doing what? It is partnering with the gospel, the entire gospel enterprise. That's my desire. Is that we would partner with that type of work. We would have a vision and a heart for that type of work. Not just spreading the gospel but the entirety of the work. So we've seen the participation of the Philippian church in the entire gospel enterprise.

They were bound to it. They had a deep fellowship in the work. They were partners with Paul and others in all the work of the gospel and all that the gospel entailed. But there's more. I want us to see the goal. The goal. And their participation, this gospel. And now I want us to see the goal. Now the goal is in verse 12. We'll get to that verse here in just a minute. Now before I show you Paul's goal, this goal, I want us to notice Paul's circumstances. If we pay attention starting in verse 12 and other verses, we can see that Paul really makes an effort to explain his circumstances to the Philippians. Now rightfully so.

The Philippian church really was his number one supporter. We can see that Paul was assuring them that his Roman imprisonment was a part of God's will and a part of God's plan. He was assuring them that the accusations against him were false and that he had truly been called of God to make his appeal all the way to Caesar. Actually Paul wanted his biggest supporters to see and believe that his life in ministry had not gone awry, that had not gone wrong. Even though it looked like his apostolic preaching ministry was over, he was indeed being obedient to God and having great success in the gospel.

He was explaining to them that the gospel was making great inroads even in Caesar's household something that would have been wonderful, wonderful news to the Philippians. You know Paul's right here and I want you to see that this is one lesson, a lesson in God's sovereignty and providence. Listen folks, what that means is this. God is a sovereign God and if we obey God and walk with God, sometimes God just interrupts our plans and does things that we do not see him doing. And we have to see that God leads us and organizes our lives sometimes in ways that we, in which we do not plan. Paul did not necessarily have this plan.

At times he wanted to do other things. So this is a lesson in God's sovereignty, in God's providence. We walk with God and accept the circumstances that he brings our way. And if we look at verse 12, Paul gives us what I think is, was his lifetime goal. And this was the goal that the Philippians needed to always be striving for. Look at verse 12. Paul says, "Now I want you to know brethren that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel." The English Standard reads, "I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." Now what is the goal?

The greater progress of the gospel. The greater advancement of the gospel. And notice what happened here. Paul did not plan this imprisonment, but as he walked in obedience to Christ, he understood that the circumstances of his life had brought him to this place. And through his difficulties, through these terrible trials, God was working to further advance the gospel in ways that he never could have planned or never could have dreamed. It's interesting, this phrase, "greater progress," this word, "advanced," in the English Standard version, this word speaks of forward movement. It speaks of success. It speaks of progress.

Paul's day the phrase was used often to describe military advancement, even in the face of dangers and obstacles. So simply put, Paul was writing them to explain that his trial of imprisonment was not a hindrance to the gospel. No, it was quite the opposite. He was telling them that his imprisonment was actually a part of the greater progress and advancement of the gospel. He was giving them a report that the gospel was making great progress even in the face of Caesar's household. You know, this automatically made me think about all of the anchored in truth churches that I know. They all face difficulties.

Every one of them has faced difficulties. And the ones that have not, they will face difficulties tomorrow. And listen, difficulties come into the life of the church. And if they are dealt with properly and biblically, most of the time they serve to advance the gospel and advance the work of the church. I got a phone call a few weeks ago from a pastor who was not a part of anchored in truth, but a pastor who was looking to partner with anchored in truth, a mutual friend told him to call me. He was asking me some questions about anchored in truth and the partnership and what that was like.

And this was before he was going up for a visit and I just told him about our experience and what was going on in the life of our church and our partnership and such. But as we got to know each other as pastors, he began to explain about the difficulties in the church, the divisions in the church, the problematic people in the church, begin to be honest and real, invulnerable. And all I've tried to do is just encourage you and love on him and share with him that if he'll be faithful and if he'll be faithful and if he'll be faithful, those difficulties in those trials will serve to advance the gospel in a greater way.

They will serve to be a greater progress of the gospel in the life of the church. Now there are two more details I want us to see here. Even though the goal of the greater progress of the gospel is great, these details need to be seen. First, the goal came from Paul. This goal came from Paul. We see that in verse 12. Paul was an apostle, but notice he was their apostle. He was the one who blazed that trail into the wilderness of the Gentile peoples. He was the one that God called in Acts 16 to take the gospel to the Philippians and he was the one this church partnered with in this gospel work.

Simply, he was their apostle, he was their leader, and there's no substitute for that. Now obviously they had pastors and ministers in their church, but what am I trying to show you? There are no substitutes for leadership. Churches rise and fall with leadership, and that shows me my great responsibility and the leaders of our church, our great responsibility. And notice that this goal came from Paul, it came from Paul. This work that is before us, it must be let out by myself and other leaders within the life of the church. But then second, the goal came from Paul's suffering. We've alluded to this quite a bit.

Simply Paul was imprisoned in Rome and he wrote this letter. This book along with Colossians and Ephesians and Philemon are commonly called the prison epistles because Paul wrote them from Roman imprisonment. And it was through Paul's suffering that God encouraged this church. It was through Paul's suffering that he encouraged them to always be striving for the goal and that goal of greater progress, the advancement of the gospel. We must see that many times, and I know I'm being repetitive most of the time, for a church to get to the place where the ultimate goal is working for the greater advancement of the gospel.

It takes trial, it takes suffering, it takes refinement, it takes a work of God to get a people to a place where they can accept that goal. So we see Paul's goal and what should have been their goal and what should be our goal. The advancement of the gospel even in the face of obstacles and difficulties. Now look at what we have quickly seen in this situation with Paul and the Philippian church. We've seen their partnership in the gospel. This is a participation in the total work and the total enterprise of the gospel.

And we have seen Paul's goal through his great trials and that was the advancement of the gospel even in the toughest of circumstances. And look folks, this is what our partnership with Anchored in Truth is all about, a partnership for the greater progress of the gospel. And that is why some of us are going next week to the True Church Conference because it is about participating in the advancement of the gospel. Some of you will get to hear some of these missionaries. Some of you will get to meet some of these church planners. Some of you will get to sit down and eat with people from some of these churches.

And it's all about a participation in what? The work of this gospel ministry. That's why Brother Jeff came in September during my 10 year anniversary. It was about partnering for the greater progress of the gospel. That's why in April Brother John O. Sims is going to come for a meeting from Sunday to Wednesday. That week will be all about the fellowship and the partnership for the greater advancement of the gospel. And in the future, that is why we will give monies. That is why we will send people. That is what will take place as we give our hearts and give our lives to this particular gospel work.

Now I want to close or move towards closing by showing you one more thing about this Philippian church. If you would turn over to chapter 4, chapter 4, I want to read to you verse 10. It might be odd. Verse 5 he says that they've been faithful from the first day until now. And notice what he says in verse 10. This is what might sound odd. Paul says, "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern from me." He says that. "You have revived your concern from me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity." Now notice what Paul says.

Paul speaks to the fact that their concern for him had been revived. Now this word revived pictures a plant that was revived. It speaks to a plant that was revived, meaning that it grew again. It wasn't dead, but it flourished again. It sprang up again. This plant was revived. Well that is what happened with the Philippians. For a long while, they had no opportunity to participate in Paul's life and in Paul's ministry. But because they had reconnected, that wonderful opportunity to participate and partner in this gospel ministry had been revived. And the Philippian Christians were thrilled. They were overjoyed to participate.

Well the lesson for us is this. Through our partnership with Anchored in Truth, through our partnership with the Anchored in Truth family, those churches and the people in those churches, those missionaries and those pastors, we have a great opportunity. So what I'm asking for you to do and what I'm praying that the Lord would do would allow this time to flourish us and grow us to produce life, gospel life, for the greater progress of the gospel. Now I go back to the title of the message. Partnership in the gospel comes right out of the verse, but the second part comes out of verse 12, the goal, the greater progress of the gospel.

So this is what I'm saying to you as your pastor. All that we do with Anchored in Truth is all about partnership in the gospel. A participation, a unique fellowship, and why? For the greater progress and the advancement of the gospel.