Partnership in the Gospel for the Greater Progress of the Gospel

If you'll notice that last song and especially the chorus was really a song and a chorus of praise, isn't that right? A lot of times we'll sing a song and it'll be rather doctrinal, but that song was a very, very worshipful song of praise. I'm going to mention something about this a little later in the message, but our brother George Crosby who passed away this past week, he is worshiping Lord right now uninhibited. He's free of sin, free of the flesh, and free of sickness. And so we're singing a song like that honestly from the heart, worshiping, but we are hindered by sin and self and so much, but he is not hindered anymore.

I just thought that would bless you. It has blessed me really all this week. Well if you would take your Bible and turn back to Philippians chapter one where we were earlier in our scripture reading. I did read quite a bit of scripture verses one to 14, but we're going to be primarily in verses three to five. I will mention some other verses in the book and I did challenge you to go read the book. I challenge you to read the book and take what we're studying this morning and continue to study it so that you can get a fuller and a better picture because this is very important for us and the life of our church and our future.

I'm going to speak to some of that and we'll come back to this time and time again throughout the years. As a matter of fact, there are some other messages connected with this message from this book that I'll share in the future. But I think most of you know that many of us were away last week. We went to the True Church Conference which is held at Grace Live Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. That's in northwest Alabama, beautiful part of the state. And some of you know what the True Church Conference is all about and some of you know why we attend and why we go year after year.

Now some of you do not because you're new in the life of our church and that's okay. And this will help answer some questions for you, maybe some questions that you did not even know that you have. But as a local church, we are not alone. We associate with an association of like-minded pastors and churches and missionaries that is called Anchored in Truth Ministries. Anchored in Truth is a ministry that exists to equip and to support and multiply health and biblical churches so that the gospel will be preached throughout the world. Well, the True Church Conference has many things which are a part of fulfilling that purpose.

The conference is a preaching and a teaching conference. And the preaching and the teaching is meant to equip, it's meant to train, it's meant to equip and train and encourage churches and pastors and missionaries. And the conference is a missions conference where many of our Anchored in Truth missionaries and pastors and churches gather for encouragement to give reports and to continue in the work. And I have said this many times and I've heard it said by others, in many ways the conference is kind of a family reunion.

As we get to know one another and we communicate with one another throughout the years, we get together as a family, a church family, a greater church family to do the work. Now in our message this morning, I want to do two basic things. First I want to revisit why we are a part of Anchored in Truth and I want to revisit our purpose in partnering with Anchored in Truth and our family of churches and pastors and missionaries. And second, I want to share some things that I see for our partnership in the future. And there's a lot that I could say there. Just a few things that I definitely want to say this morning.

And in revisiting our purpose for partnering with Anchored in Truth, I want us to look at the partnership that existed between Paul and the Philippian church. And I say revisit because we've looked at this before. I taught a form of this message back in February, February the 13th of 2022 before we went to the True Church Conference. As a matter of fact, I taught a form of this message when I went and visited a sister church, a part of the Anchored in Truth family, Shebeth E. Mills Baptist Church in Tennessee. Many of you know that's where Brother John O. pastors.

But before we examine the partnership that existed between Paul and this church, we need to know some background. We need to know a little bit about the book and what was happening with Paul and this church. And this is a quick flyover. There's a lot more that I could say here. But first we need to see that the major theme of the book of Philippians is joy. You've probably heard that before if you've been in the life of the church for very long. The Bible commentator Warren Wiersby says the key theme of the book is the joy of the Lord. John MacArthur calls this letter the epistle of joy. Well, I would agree with those statements.

Joy is definitely the dominant theme of the letter. But I think we must see that the overall point of the letter is much more than a letter about God's people having joy in their Christian walk, even in trials, even having joy in the life of the church. Of course, Paul was joyful as he walked with God in his very difficult circumstances. When he wrote this letter, he was in a Roman prison and he had been in prison for some four years. It even seemed that to many that Paul's apostolic ministry was possibly over and he could be executed. The Philippians seemed to think that that was the case.

But Paul was definitely joyful in the Lord while he was a prisoner for the Lord. And even though he did not know for certain if he would be released, he certainly could have been put to death. And yes, Paul was encouraging the Philippians to be joyful in the Lord in all of their circumstances. Although they were a very healthy church and they received praise from Paul, they did have some difficulties. They were a poor people and they were enduring harsh persecution from a pagan culture. And they also faced spiritual pressures from false teachers who were trying to infiltrate the church.

They even had two very prominent women in the church who were in a terrible disagreement and that could have damaged the church or even destroyed the unity of the church. And they were very concerned in their hearts for Paul and his circumstances. But there is something in the letter that we really need to see and we need to continue to see throughout the years. Paul's heart was full of joy and it was full of thankfulness because of the unique relationship that they had with one another. And it was because God had brought them together. It was because God had formed this unique relationship. He had forged this unique relationship.

And the Apostle Paul and this church, the Philippian church and those people. And this was a relationship that had been tested. It had been proven through the years. Paul was writing this letter some 10 years from when God had first brought them together. And their relationship had continued through many difficulties that both the Philippians faced and Paul faced. And even when they were separated by many, many miles and they seem to have lost contact with one another. But I want to ask you a question. And I want you to think about this question.

Maybe even write the question down and keep this in your understanding and remembrance of the message. What was at the center of the joy? We know that joy is the main theme of the letter. But what was at the center of this joy? Between them. This would be Paul and the Philippians. They had what I call a one of a kind joy. That was because no church had a relationship with Paul like the Philippians did. Now think about that statement. Paul had relationships with all of these churches. The Ephesian church, the Corinthian church, even churches that we do not know a lot about. But think about that statement.

No church had a relationship with Paul like the Philippians did. And Paul didn't have a relationship like this with any other church. In them, Paul and the Philippians had what I see as a priceless joy. That was because their relationship centered on true kingdom work. Now let me say that again. That needs to sink in. The joy that they had in their relationship was priceless because their relationship was centered on true kingdom work. Now what's more priceless than true kingdom work? Simply or to simplify what I've just said at the center of this joy was a very unique relationship, a very valuable partnership. Yes, a partnership.

And this morning I want us to take a look at this partnership. And I want this partnership to challenge us and to change us and to encourage us and even to open up our eyes as to what God would do and is doing in us. Now I'll go ahead and give you the title of the message. Many of you know the title. This is partnership in the gospel. Now I'll do this from time to time, I'll add to or change the title of my message. So we're going to look at what I call partnership in the gospel and I will add to that a little later on at the end of the message. But this morning I want us to look at three things in this relationship.

This will be easy for you to follow as I progress through the message and as you're taking notes. So number one, I want us to see their partnership. Now we see this talked about in verses three on down to verse 11, but really all throughout the book. But I want us to see their partnership. Now starting in verse three, we clearly see Paul's heart and his love for the Philippians. And it continues all throughout the book. We can easily see that Paul was very thankful and joyful to God and in prayer for them. And he was always remembering them in prayer in this way.

But notice in verse five, Paul tells them why he was so thankful and filled with joy for them. It was because of their partnership with him in the gospel. Go back and look at verse three to five. He says, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. See how personal it is? Always in every prayer of mine for you, all making my prayer with joy. See how personal it is? Notice of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Now if we read a few different translations, we will see some different wording here. It's good for us to see this. The King James reads, fellowship in the gospel.

The English standard I'm reading from this morning, it reads your partnership in the gospel. The new American says participation in the gospel. Now here's where we need to pause and we need to ask why are there three different words here? Why do the English translators give us three different words here? It's because all three of these words are correct. This word can be translated fellowship. This word can be translated participation. It can be translated partnership. And we need to see what Paul was talking about here. Paul was speaking of a fellowship that they had together in the gospel, but more.

He was speaking of a partnership that they had and they shared in the gospel, but more. This fellowship and partnership spoke of a mutual participation in gospel work. So they had this fellowship. We could say they had this spiritual bond, this spiritual brotherhood, but it was more. They had this partnership and they were joined together in a particular work. They were partners together and participating together in a particular work. And look, this was not simply just sharing a meal together. There's nothing wrong with that. This was more than having their names on the same church row. There's nothing wrong with that.

This was more than giving money to missions and there's nothing wrong with that. This was more than sharing the same doctrinal views or the same personal convictions about how to live out the Christian life. And there's nothing wrong with that. Listen to how all of this comes together. Listen to how all of this fits together. We have Paul and we have Timothy. He's in the first verse of the book. We have the elders of the church and the deacons. They're mentioned there. We know that as a deacon body because of the language. So we have Paul. We have Timothy. We have the elders and the deacons. And then we have the church.

Then we have some specific people in the church. We know there was a Paparidus who was one of the best men of their church. I believe we have Lydia right here. We have the Philippian jailer who was converted right there. You know there was the slave girl who was set free. We don't know if she was there but we have to speculate that she was there. We have the two ladies who were in this conflict. They were there. And then we have all of these unnamed believers from the Philippian church. You see? Now notice how this comes together.

They all starting from Paul on down they had this one of a kind priceless spiritual bond that had been formed by God and it centered on this fellowship. It centered on the partnership. It centered on it was built on a participation in the gospel. Now I want to look at this partnership a little more. I want to examine a few things about this partnership. And this will apply to us. I want to go a little further here. So take a breath and just follow me. First we need to see the breadth of this partnership. The breadth of this partnership. If we pay attention to verse 5 we see Paul reference the breadth of their partnership.

He says they had been in this partnership from the first day until now. Look back at verse 5. I'm going to start with verse 3. I thank my God and all of my remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Now here Paul is reaching back to when he and his companions had first come to Philippi and they began the work of the gospel there. He is looking back 10 years to when Lydia was the first convert to Christ and to when others like the Philippian jailer came to Christ.

He is reaching back 10 years to when this particular local church was born and it was established there in the city. And this was the first church on European soil. Paul then references their current circumstances and how they had heard of his Roman imprisonment. Where they heard of Paul's circumstances they stepped up to help him in his imprisonment. And what did they do? They sent Paul one of their best men a Paproditis and they sent him on a long journey of about 700 miles to minister to Paul and with Paul and through a Paproditis they also sent a very generous monetary gift to Paul for his needs.

But the breadth of this partnership went even further. In verse 6 Paul says that he was confident that God would continue this good work in them and through them. Now I know that some will say this verse. Verse 6 refers to their salvation and it does. But verse 6 is to be interpreted in light of verse 5. In verse 5 Paul was thankful for their partnership from the first day until the day that he was writing them. Well in verse 6 Paul was saying that he was confident that God would continue this work in them and through them. So just in verse 5 Paul is bringing up the great breadth of their partnership.

And in verse 6 he was adding to it by saying that God would persevere and preserve them as they were in the work. And I want you to notice there is a lesson here. There is a lesson in longevity. Longevity in the work of the church not just for ministers of the gospel. There is a lesson in longevity and being faithful in your church membership. There is a lesson in longevity and serving faithfully in the local church. If you are in a ministry position as a layman or a laywoman there is a lesson in longevity. If you are a small group teacher there is a lesson in longevity.

If you are a minister of the gospel like I am there is a lesson in longevity. What I am showing you is this. The breadth of their partnership is a great lesson. But then second we need to see the depth of this partnership. The depth of this partnership. To see the depth of their partnership we need to look throughout the letter. This is where your homework assignment comes in. I really do not have the time to fully examine the depth of their partnership but I want to point out three things that really stick out to me. You are going to see them in your own study in the four chapters. First they gave men to the partnership.

The Philippians sent this man a Paparditis. I mentioned this and he was one of their best men. Some scholars speculate that he was one of the elders. We do not know. That is a safe speculation but we do not know. But Paul called a Paparditis a dear brother. He called him a hard worker. He called him a servant who could endure difficulties like a soldier. And then from Paul, Paul hoped to send his best man. That would have been Timothy to the Philippians. Paul even said that he desired to come if he was released. So what do we see? They are both sending their best men. Second the Philippians gave money to this partnership.

Not only had they sent money to Paul earlier in his ministry and not only had they given sacrificially in the past, here they sent money to help Paul in his imprisonment. And then third they gave their hearts to the partnership. Now that might surprise you but it is there they gave their hearts to this partnership. If we study the book we can see that Paul had truly given his heart to this relationship and the Philippians had done the very same thing. And we need to see this all came from a work of the Holy Spirit of God in them. This was not something that came from them. This was a work that God had birthed in them.

So we must see that because God had forged and welded their hearts together, the Philippians sent one of their best men and Paul wanted to send one of his best men. And because God had welded their hearts together in this partnership, the Philippians gladly and willingly sacrificially gave of their time, of their money. And Paul gladly, he willingly served them as an apostle. So this is a lesson in the depth of ministry because in the depth of ministry you give and you give sacrificially not just with monies but in so many other ways. So in summary we see this fellowship but it was more than a fellowship.

We see this partnership between Paul and the Philippians but it was more. Paul, all of his associates, the Philippians, they were joined in this spiritual fellowship in this Holy Spirit born partnership in Kingdom Work together but it was more. They were true participants in Kingdom Work with Paul for over 10 years. I like what the Bible scholar William Hendrickson says here. He says this was a hearty cooperation. I add to that comment, I say it was a hearty cooperation because it was a cooperation from the heart and it was from the heart because God had birthed these things in their heart.

It was all because there was a true work of God in their heart and lives. This didn't come from man folks. And the more I'm connected with the pastors and the ministers and the people connected with Anchor and Truth, the more I feel the same way about our partnership. It is a hearty cooperation because it is a cooperation from the heart and it is from the heart because God has done this work in us. I think about this hearty cooperation and a cooperation from the heart when I think about a fellow pastor, Timoteo O. Goddess in Manila, the Philippines. He's the pastor of Grace Life Church in Quazon City. Quazon City is right outside of Manila.

He's a brother, a faithful pastor. God is welded our hearts together. I've had the joy of preaching in his pulpit and ministering in his church and he is a faithful brother. I think about Steve Misios in Vienna, Austria. Many of you have met Steve. Steve is in a very sinful culture, a small church, but he is faithful and God is welded our hearts together. I think about so many, Mike Kline-Sasser, Grace Life Church of Richland Center, Derek Melton, Grace Life Church of Prior, Oklahoma. There's so many more. I met a new brother to the fellowship this past week, Medulla Imbewe. But Medulla Imbewe is pretty famous because of who his dad is.

His dad is Conrad Imbewe. God has brought Medulla into the connection with us and Anchor and Truth and I got to visit with that brother numerous times this past week and he wanted to hear about the work that God was doing here and the work that God is doing here blessed him and I look forward to getting to know him. Now what am I trying to show you? Our connection with Anchor and Truth is a true partnership, a fellowship, a participation in the gospel. Now let me share a few more things here before I move on. All of these things take time. All of these things take time. They're tested in time and look these things are a work of God.

If it's not a work of God, it's a work of man and it never ever works if it's a work of man. But number two, I want us to see their partnership in the gospel. Now again this comes out of verse five. I want to go back and read it. Verse five, again I'm going to start at verse three. I thank my God and all my remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because this is why he was so thankful, why he was so joyful, why he was praying as he prayed because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Now if we don't take the time and dig into this phrase in the gospel and what it is referring to we can miss a lot. We might not even notice the phrase. If we give a casual thought here we can make an assumption that this phrase is simply about evangelism or the message of the gospel. That is a fair assumption. It was Paul and his companions who brought the message of the gospel to them. A major part of Paul's ministry was evangelism and preaching the gospel as he traveled. But Paul was speaking of much, much more. And using this term in the gospel Paul was speaking of the entire ministry of the gospel.

John MacArthur calls this the whole enterprise of the gospel, the whole enterprise of the gospel. I'm going to keep that term as I continue. And there are three very important observations that I want to make here that will help us see this entire gospel enterprise of which they were all apart. First scholars tell us that the construction of the language in verse 5 seems to suggest that they were partners in the spread of the gospel not just in believing the gospel. You see they didn't just believe the gospel they were partners in spreading the gospel.

Second the accounts of how the Philippians partnered with Paul in the entirety of his work help us here. Certain chapters in Acts, certain chapters in 2 Corinthians and the book of Philippians tell us that the Philippians supported Paul's entire ministry and not just his evangelism ministry. Some scholars say the Philippians funded a great part of if not all of Paul's second missionary journey. And then third specific passages tell us that they supported Paul in his entire ministry in other places.

Philippians 4, 15 and 16 tell us that they supported Paul in his ministry while he was in Thessalonica which in turn helped him to minister in Athens and later in Corinth. And passages in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, 1 and 2 and 11 verse 9 tell us that they supported Paul with great sacrifice with men and money while he ministered to the church in Corinth. And they even begged Paul, yes they even begged Paul to be able to partner in the support of the saints in Jerusalem. Similarly they were partners and participants with Paul in the entire gospel enterprise or the total work of the gospel that Paul was involved in.

Not just evangelism, not just church planning, not just ministering to those churches. The entire work of the gospel, the entire enterprise of the gospel, they were partners in that work. And look church, I'm so thankful that I can say this. That is what Anchored in Truth is all about. The purpose of Anchored in Truth is the entire gospel enterprise just like what we see with Paul and the Philippian church. Paul is the greatest model folks. Paul's the greatest model.

I'm thankful that the network of churches within Anchored in Truth, they exist, we exist to equip and to support and to multiply the health of biblical churches so that the gospel will be preached throughout the world. Now is it done perfectly? No. None of us are perfect in the work. Now how about that work for me? I'll give you a small example or two. A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from a fellow pastor, Chris Twilly, pastor of Grace Life Church in Cenotobia, Mississippi. He just wanted to know how we did small groups, what that looked like.

He wanted to know what we did for our small group training and I took the time and probably spent two hours on the phone explaining to him what we do. I was just sharing what God's done here and he was so thankful. He said it helped him in many, many ways. That's partnering together folks. There are many times guys like Blake Keenum in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada will call and they just want to know what we do in a specific circumstance. I think about when I go to Anchor and Truth churches, how God uses me and they are used by God in my life. I think about last August when I went to Shebaboo Meals Baptist Church, Brother John O's church.

I had the privilege to preach their men's meeting and I preached in their church and God used our testimony to bless them and then God used them to bless me. I think about this April I get to have the privilege to preach at Grace Life Church of the Shoals. I'm going to preach their men's conference and preach in their church and they will be ministered by what God's doing here and they will be ministering to me. But as you get to know missionaries, as you get to know pastors, how might you encourage them? I'll give you an example.

Every so often I get an email from a small group leader in another church, "How can we pray for you?" I'll send them emails back and tell them how they can pray and they'll send me an email back telling me how much they pray for us. Every now and then I get text messages, every now and then I get cards in the mail and what is it? It's all partnering. They're wanting to know what God's doing here, how they can pray for us and we can do the very same thing. And I want to challenge you small group leaders, you take up that responsibility to lead your group to do those things.

But then number three, their partnership was for the greater progress of the Gospel. I want us to see that their partnership was for the greater progress of the Gospel. Now I want to finally move on from verses 3 to 5 and I want us to read verses 12 to 14. Paul says, "I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me," he's in a Roman imprisonment, remember that, "has really served to advance the Gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole Imperial Guard and all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

And most of the brothers have become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment and they are much more bold to speak the Word." That would be the Gospel without fear. Now notice, if we pay attention to those verses and other verses, we can see that Paul really made an effort to explain his situation and he should have. The believers, they're in the Philippian church, they were his biggest supporters in many ways and that's not an overstatement, but Paul was assuring them that his imprisonment was not a tragedy. He was assuring them that his imprisonment was actually a part of God's plan for his life and his ministry.

Now let me show you something. Just pause. That's a great lesson on the providence of God. Now that's not just a big phrase. This imprisonment did not sneak up on Paul. It didn't sneak up on God, it might have snuck up on Paul, but Paul understood God's providence for his life. That was not an accident, that was God's will for his life. And many times circumstances will come into our life that we are not planning for, but look as believers, all things are ordained of God. But if we look at verse 12, Paul gives his ultimate goal and that is the greater progress of the Gospel. Notice what different translations say here in verse 12.

The English standard says this and I'm reading, "I want you to know brothers, that what has happened to me, my imprisonment, has really served to advance the Gospel." The New American says, and I'm reading the verse, "My circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the Gospel." And even though God had put Paul in a Roman imprisonment, Paul understood that God's plans were for what? The greater progress of the Gospel. Now there are two specifics I want us to see here. And this will make this greater progress of the Gospel come alive. First, where this was all taking place.

Right away Paul said the Gospel was making progress in the Imperial Guard. I read that earlier. Now there's some debate about what this is referring to, but it seems best to understand that Paul was referring to the elite Roman soldiers who were the palace or they were the Imperial Guards. These would have been soldiers that Paul was chained to during his imprisonment. And as a result of Paul's Gospel witness and his Christian character, many of them were coming to faith in Christ. Also many of the soldiers were even spreading the Gospel themselves. So much so that the Gospel made progress into members of Caesar's own household.

And at the end of the letter, Paul even writes that members of Caesar's own household sends them greetings. Think about that. Paul also says that other brothers in Rome were gaining confidence to spread the Gospel. Why? Because of Paul's imprisonment. Most likely these would have been brothers from the church that was there in Rome. So we see where the Gospel was making great progress. The Gospel was making progress among the Imperial Guard and even in those who served in Caesar's household. Why? Because of God's providential plan for Paul's life. Second, notice how this was taking place. Now there's a key word here. This word progress.

The New American says advance. Or excuse me, the New American says progress. The English Standard says advance. Scholars tell us this word speaks of positive forward movement. This speaks of success. This speaks of progress. And commentators tell us it was used in their day to describe those in an army who went out in front to remove obstacles, to clear roads, and to make a way for those who were coming behind. And that is what was happening through Paul. His imprisonment and his witness as a prisoner was making a way for the greater progress of the Gospel all in Rome. So we see how this was taking place.

Like those moving out in front of an army clearing the way. Paul was used to clear the way for the advancement of the Gospel in Rome. And notice what these details tell us. Although Paul went to Rome shackled and in chains, it was through Paul that the Gospel went to Rome and it, the Gospel, was unchained. So here we see God's ultimate plan which became Paul's ultimate plan. And that was no matter the circumstance, whether free or in chains, the greater progress of the Gospel was the plan. That was always the plan and that had to be the goal.

I can think of no better example to give you out of the Anchored and Truth family than Max in Poland, Pastor Max. Max is a pastor of a very, very small church there in Poland. Poland is a very Catholic nation and it's very hard to evangelize. And so he can be overlooked as a small pastor, you know, a small church way off over there in Poland. But let me show you how the Gospel is making a great advance. God has put Max in a very strategic place. Because of the war in the Ukraine, thousands of refugees are pouring over into Poland. And notice what God is doing.

He's taking a small church and an awful thing called war and that church, they are evangelizing countless Ukrainians who are coming looking for help. Pastor Max and a small group of believers are ministering to them and evangelizing them. And notice how it all works. Teams of churches from Anchored and Truth are going over there to help. Anchored and Truth is funneling monies over there. Maybe God would call you to go. We talk about others and they go. Maybe God is calling you to go. Maybe you need to go to the Ukraine. Maybe you need to go to Poland, excuse me, and help Pastor Max evangelize.

How many of us have been trained to share the Gospel? We know how to share. Maybe we need to go over there and partner with him for the greater progress of the Gospel for those Ukrainians. And see, that's what it's all about and I could give you other examples. But notice what it's all about. It's the greater progress for the Gospel. Now let me pause here and let me say something. A lot of churches and a lot of ministers get sidetracked in what I would call parachurch organizations or parachurch ministries. But notice Paul's, if I could say it like this, ministry philosophy. Evangelize, plant a church, move on.

Evangelize, plant a church, move on. Why? For the greater progress of the Gospel. And then come behind and do what? Work to build health in that church, especially when they had problems. And that is what? The greater progress of the Gospel. Now before I share some personal thoughts, I want to point out three distinct characteristics from this remarkable and can be overlooked partnership between Paul and the Philippians. And this really applies to us. First notice about Paul. Notice about the Philippians. Notice about their partnership. And again, I've zoomed through this. Notice first their partnership was born of God.

It was God who birthed these things in them. Was Paul originally planning to go to Philippi? No. Go look at Acts chapter 16. We understand it as the Macedonian call. God did this work, this relationship, this partnership was not the result of human planning, but it was of God. And as your pastor, I can stand here and tell you that our partnership with Anchored in Truth is of God and you can look around the room in the life of our church and you can see other men who will say the same thing. Ask Tommy Alderman. He'll say it's of God. Ask Chris Travis. He'll say, "Oh yes, oh it's of God." Ask Keith Stovall.

As an elder in the life of the church, he would say, "Yes, it is of God." And there are others that would say the very same thing. So our partnership is of God. God did this work. Second, their partnership was long lasting because of verses like chapter 1 verse 5 and chapter 4 verse 10, we see that their partnership was truly a long lasting partnership and it was tested. If you do some study in the book, it seems like that at one time they were even disconnected, but their partnership endured, they were disconnected because of circumstances that their partnership was not cut off. And I think about our future with Anchored in Truth.

I view it as a long lasting partnership. I've told them time and time again, "I'm just glad to be here. I don't have to serve. I don't have to do anything. I just want to be a part of the family." You see? And third, I want us to see their partnership was sacrificial. Now to be honest with you, this is something we need to study a little more. You go read about it. But this church, remember they were a small church. This church gave three of the most important things that a church has. Notice. First, they gave faithful men. It is no doubt they sent one of their best, a Paparditis, to Paul. Second, they gave their money.

Oh, they begged to give more money. They gave money. It seems that the Philippian church was the only church that gave Paul money for his missionary journeys. And third, they gave their time. You see? The Philippian church, those Philippian believers willingly sacrificed men, money, and time. You can say it like this, "Manpower, monies, and time." But this sacrifice went both ways. Notice. Paul served them and sacrificed for them while he was in change. What does he say? He says, "My imprisonment is for you." You see? It went both ways. Now, I want to ask a couple of probing rhetorical questions. How have we sacrificed? Have we sacrificed?

Will we be willing to sacrifice in the future? Will we? Will we be willing to give way above and beyond our tithe? We're going to look at some tithing and some messages on tithing here pretty soon. Will we be willing to give above and beyond our tithe for what? To go to direct mission work? Will we be willing to go? Will we give up our vacation to go? Will we risk our health to go? Will we risk our life to go? You might say, "Pastor, I couldn't go to Poland. That's too close to the war." Think about a Papariditis. He almost died. Will we sacrifice in the future? You know, I think about this. It's been a long time since I mentioned this.

You know, the Nola Baptist Church, who we once were, was a sick and dying church. I have prayed throughout the years that God would allow us to adopt a church like we once were. You know, a sick and dying church, that we could come alongside and help them. If we had a sick and dying church 40 miles from here, would you be willing to leave here and go help that church? Would you leave your small group that you're comfortable with? Would we be willing to take two or three of our best men and move them? And you know, we could suffer for doing that. We've had men in the life of our church who've done ministry.

Would we be willing to support a pastor and plan him in a situation like that and give sacrificially? If the pastors of Acred and Truth, I think about Brother Jeff and Brother John O and Steve McAllister, who is the mission's pastor. If he said, "Brother, we've got a church plant that needs a pastor," would we be willing to plant one of our men and send them to go? You see what I mean? Have we sacrificed and would we be willing to sacrifice? And look, I believe we'll send people out. You might say, "Pastor, we're not big enough." The Philippian church wasn't that big, folks. Pastor Max, his church isn't that big.

Now how do I finish the message? I'm just giving you the title of the message, Partnership in the Gospel. For what? For the greater progress of the gospel. This is what our relationship with Acred and Truth and the pastors and the churches and those missionaries, everyone associated with Acred and Truth, that's what it's all about. And I'm just happy to be a part. So let's pray. We're going to close out this part of our service. We're going to sing to the Lord and then I'm going to make a few concluding comments that pertain to the message and then we'll dismiss. So let's pray.