Glorying in Christ

you prefer, those little booklets
that we provided last week. And if you weren’t born the one out that we provided
last week, I do have some additional copies for you. What I’m referring
to is I passed out the entire book of Philippians block diagram
for you for the purpose of study and deepening your knowledge in the
the flow of the passage, the syntax of the passage, how words
relate to one another, how the paragraphs relate to one another.
And so feel free to refer to that or use that however you
desire. You won’t be tested on it. You
don’t have to memorize it. Just enjoy it or don’t enjoy
it. If you would, I want to go to
Again, those opening words of the epistle. Philippians, chapter
one, and we begin in verse one. Paul and Timothy bond servants
of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,
including the overseers and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God,
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I suppose it might be easier
for me to tell you what I’m not going to talk about this morning.
There is at least one thing that we’re not going to talk about
or spend a whole lot of time is that little reference there
to the overseers and deacons. From our previous studies, you
know that with some people, this causes much consternation that
elders aren’t mentioned. Only overseers and deacons. which
gave rise to an entire new office in the church in some circles
that felt like overseers were needed to essentially look over
the work of a multiplicity of churches that all were shepherded
by elders. It also gave rise in some circles
to the elevation of the office of deacon to being parallel to
that of the elders. And as you may recall, we looked
at this in the context of the entire instruction of the New
Testament on the matter. This is one of the clearest justifications
for the fact that elders, overseers, and shepherds all refer to the
same office. And that Paul, when he referred
to overseers, what he intended to do was to point out just one
of the functions of the elders in their midst. He calls them
here overseers, but in many occasions, he referred to them directly
as elders. Paul wasn’t confused. Paul, by
using this term, essentially points out the interchangeable
nature of those terms for the ongoing office of leadership
in the church that is elder. But we’re not going to talk about
that, at least not much more. What I did want to back up and
discuss for the bulk of our time this morning Is that which I
alluded to last Lord’s Day in Sunday School, that of continuing,
the fruit of continuing to meditate on God’s Word and the blessing
that comes from it. Because I’ve preached Philippians
probably three or four times in various circles and settings.
I’ve taught it in Bible studies. I took our college kids through
it when I was a college pastor. I know I preached it in at least
my first two churches. And yet, just due to meditating
on the passage of Fresh, just the passage, not reading commentaries,
not being bogged down with all this other extraneous stuff,
just looking at the Word and reading the Word, it became very
clear to me that what Paul is doing in this passage, among
other things, is glorifying again his Lord. He’s glorifying the
Lord Jesus Christ in a whole new way, in a fresh way. He’s pointing out to us aspects
of Christ and His life and His ministry that he almost can’t
ignore. That at every thought, at every
passage of Scripture, at every discussion, Paul turns his attention
again to his Savior. And he does so again with what
I would refer to here as a threefold glorification of Christ. What
Paul mentions about the Savior, and he does it in the context
of what some would refer to as a mere address label. To and
from. Or better yet, from and to. Some would regard these verses
as extraneous, almost unnecessary, filler. They’re just merely telling
who the letter is from and who the letter is written to. Or
are they? I would say that these verses,
like any others, are full of instructional material for us. The Word, we are told, is profitable. All of the Word is profitable
for teaching, for instruction, for training in righteousness. And these words are no different.
If you would, I want to look at the threefold glorification
of Christ that Paul gives us in this passage. And to do that,
I want to go back, obviously, to verse 1. And if you are using
your little booklets, you may notice from the diagram in the
bulletin this morning that your booklets are already obsolete.
I remember my first year of seminary, Howard Hendricks told us that
studying the Bible ruins more sermons. Well, this should underscore
the fact that that little booklet that I handed you last week is
a tool and should be examined. It should be changed. It should
be wrestled with and, if need be, altered. And so right out
of the chutes this morning, you notice that I say Paul and Timothy
bond servants, but I put those on a parallel because they are.
Bondservant literally is a nominative. It just is a way of renaming
Paul and Timothy and therefore sits parallel to Paul and Timothy. Paul and Timothy, bondservants
of Christ Jesus. First and foremost this morning,
Paul presents to us that Jesus Christ is the master of the workmen. Jesus Christ is the master of
the workmen. Now, we have perhaps considered
these opening two verses do function as the return address, if you
will, the label, the address label. But Paul, in that, immediately
upon declaring who this letter is from, and we’re not going
to spend any time, not like we did with Peter, I’m not going
to take three weeks to tell you about Paul, because in a very
real sense, we looked at how he planted this church and Timothy’s
relationship in that. But he immediately refers to
both he and Timothy as bond servants, slaves. The word is doulos. It provides
with a very fascinating Bible study. If you have and take the
time, it was developed by Paul. The idea of slave was developed
by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, where he queried
whether we were servants of sin or Christ. That’s where the idea
first was used. The first reference to himself
as a servant or a slave and ultimately a servant of Christ is the second
letter that he wrote to Corinth. And in that letter, which was
written from Philippi, is in a sense instructive to
us that the Philippians knew of Paul’s character as a servant
of Christ. In other words, Paul wouldn’t
write from his orientation point that he was a monster of Christ
if he wasn’t functioning among them already as one. In 2 Corinthians
4-5, Paul wrote, For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ
Jesus as Lord and ourselves as your conservants for Jesus’ sake. And this would become a theme
or at least an attitude that is sustained throughout Paul’s
ministry. When he wrote to the Galatians,
he said, For am I now seeking the favor of men or of God? Or am I striving to please men?
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant
of Christ.” To the Romans, he wrote, Paul, a bond-servant of
Christ Jesus. To Titus, he wrote, Paul, a bond-servant
of God. This word is as loaded still
now as it was then. because it was the most absolute
term for service that was in use at the time. It was used
even by the Lord Himself in Matthew chapter 27. It was regularly
used in the Old Testament in the Greek translation of the
Old Testament, the Septuagint. It was the word used for the
prophets themselves. Amos 3.7, Jeremiah 7.25, servants
of God. The background of this title
that Paul takes on for himself is rooted in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament language, the language of slavery was frequently
used. Not only of the relationship
of the subject to a human ruler, but very commonly in the relation
of men to God. And because of that, for Paul,
every Christian, he saw every Christian as a servant of Christ. Do we look at ourselves that
way? Do we look at ourselves as bond servants? Because if
we did, we wouldn’t be so offended when our service isn’t appreciated.
We wouldn’t be so taken aback when others criticize us or failed
to appreciate the great gift that we are to the church. For
Paul, every Christian was a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ, which
expressed the total, if you will, belongingness. The fact that
we belong ultimately to Christ. The fact that we owe Him all
of our allegiance. It expresses an absolute ownership
on God’s part and authority in order to command us. One pastor said, this expression,
the servant of Christ implies implicit obedience and subjection. I mean, in a sense, it’s a very
liberating word. And you know that the idea that
Paul develops is that we are servants. We are either going
to be servants of sin or we’re going to be servants of God.
It’s that simple. We’re servants either way. Every
person ever born is a servant. Servants of sin or servants of
God. This implies implicit obedience,
he goes on to say, and subjection, and it supposes the divine authority
of the Redeemer. In this, we find the apostle
denying that he was the servant of men, rejecting all human authority
as regards matters of faith and duty, and yet professing the
most absolute subjection to the authority of Jesus Christ. You
see, the first point of Paul’s glorifying of Christ is that
he is in absolute subjection. He is the master of the workmen. It was the Lord Jesus Himself
who called Paul into ministry. It was the Lord Jesus Himself
who guided Paul in his ministry. And it’s no different today.
It’s the Lord Jesus who lays down the standards for those
who would serve Him. It is the Lord Jesus who calls
men to ministry. It is the Lord Jesus who directs
them through His Word and by His Spirit. It’s no different.
But they are not in charge. They are not little tyrants unto
themselves. They have a Master. And the Master
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that calls the
shots. He is the one to whom they should
yield and no other. This concept said one, goes in
a sense even deeper than that which pertains to ordinary slaves
and their earthly masters. Paul and Timothy had been bought
with a price and were therefore owned by their master. We bristle
at that. We bristle at ownership by anyone
up to and including God. But he bought us with a price
and the price was Christ’s own blood. It wasn’t that way for
Paul. Paul didn’t bristle at the thought
that he was a bondservant of Christ. He knew that he was completely
dependent upon God for his next breath, for all things, life
and breath and all things as he told the heathen. And because of that, it demanded
his absolute allegiance to the Savior. Paul uses this term doulos in
a very spiritual sense. It’s one who serves his Lord
with a gladness of heart. This is a willing servant. This
is one who has been made willing by God’s grace and eagerly takes
up any charge, eagerly takes up any duty with a joyfulness
of heart that only grace can give. to serve with gladness in heart,
and newness of spirit, and the employment of a perfect freedom.
You see, we don’t look at service of God the right way sometimes.
We look at it, and it becomes to us a drudgery. It becomes
to us, you know, those people don’t appreciate me. Whether
I’m setting up chairs, or teaching Sunday school, or doing some
mundane task in the church. In fact, that’s the beginning
of the problem. As we look at our callings, our various callings
through earthly eyes and not as those who have the privilege
to serve their heavenly master. Paul saw that Christians are
free, but they are not their own. They’re not completely independent
of Christ. And it’s in their dependence
and service to Christ that they find their real freedom. That’s what Paul has in mind
here. And it was exemplified by Paul.
It was exemplified by Paul and his behavior before the Ephesians. To them, he wrote, when they
had come to him, he said to them, use yourselves to know, from
the first day until I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the
whole time, serving the Lord.” Serving as a slave. Serving as
Christ. That’s the word. With all humility,
he goes on to say, and with tears and with trials, which came upon
me through the plots of the Jews. Paul and Timothy were slaves.
They were bondservants of Jesus Christ. And to them, that was
a glorious thing. It was a glorious thing. Regardless of how much Paul and
Timothy differed from one another. One was an aged man in the ministry. Another, a young man. The circumstances
of their conversions. Paul was radical on the road
to Damascus. Timothy probably raised in a
God fearing home. Spiritual maturity. One a seasoned
veteran, the other a fledgling. And yet in Christ, they were
both absolutely equal. It’s the beautiful thing about
the church. In Christ, they were absolutely equal. Both were slaves
of Christ. There is no pecking order or
hierarchy in the church. Not in an ultimate sense. We
all have the same calling. We all owe everything that we
have to the grace and goodness of God. We all are servants of
Christ. What a glorious title. One pastor
summarized it in these terms. This term, servants of Christ,
is a general term for the workers of the Lord, His ambassadors
and messengers. And it indicates their entire
identification with Christ and His cause on earth. In that sense,
what he says is this title, servants of Christ, is elevated. You are
now the grand servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. You’re not
just slaves. He goes on to say that as well
as their unconditional and dutiful service to him as their Lord,
who exercised the right of possession and use of them and on whom they
were entirely dependent and to whom alone they were responsible. The lowly and humble self-appellation,
furthermore, is the renunciation of all self-influence and self-esteem. And so the light is focused more
and more on him who alone is their Lord.” The first and foremost glorification
of the Lord Jesus Christ is that Jesus is the master of the workmen
and Paul immediately acknowledges it. Paul isn’t out there calling
shots. Paul isn’t out there on his own
with his own ultimate authority, unanswerable to anyone. Paul parks himself, nestles himself
comfortably under the sovereign hand of God and to the authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says that first and foremost,
he and Timothy were bondservants of Christ Jesus. Secondly, we know who the letter is from. But the second glorification
of Christ points out another thing that we are to ponder and
meditate and glory in. When he says to all the saints
in Christ Jesus, he reminds us that secondly, Jesus is the harbor
of the saints. What a beautiful concept. I don’t know how long we’ve had
this agreement, but I believe since the end of the Second World
War, the United States has enjoyed the use of the harbors throughout
Asia, but especially in Taiwan. The past couple of weeks, two
or three weeks ago, one of the aircraft carriers in the Pacific
Fleet went to pull into the harbor there in Taiwan and were rejected.
They were unwelcome. They were not granted the privilege
of coming into that harbor. That whole mentality, the harbor,
pulling in and docking and finding food and fuel and resources. It’s an interesting image. And
that’s why I used it to describe what Christ is to the saints.
He is safe harbor. He’s a place where we can go
and be image breaks down because sooner
or later a boat pulls anchor and leaves the harbor. But the
Christian never does. I’ll tell you why in a moment.
First of all, he says to all the saints in Christ Jesus. That’s who the letters to. that
word, we’ve seen it before many times, holy ones, set apart ones,
sanctified ones. It refers to, I mean, literally
you can take it as holy ones separated from sin to God. And Paul constantly referred
to the Christian community and its members by this little term,
saints. And we don’t use it enough of
one another. We’ve fallen into a habit in
our home of doing this, looking forward to our time with the
saints. Sometimes I do it in prayer,
referring to the body as the saints, but we don’t do it enough.
We need to constantly look at one another and consider one
another and rejoice in the fact that we are the called out ones
from the world, separated from sin by God’s grace. We are saints. And the beautiful thing is it’s
equally true of all converts. Anybody who names the name of
Christ is a saint. I can remember the big hubbaloo
that was made the day or the week. I think they both died
on the same day or the same week. Mother Teresa and Princess Diana.
And I can remember hearing people talk about them both as saints.
You know, I’m not here to sit in judgment of either one of
them. I don’t know what God could have done through their lives,
but they’re certainly haven’t achieved any kind of sainthood
with a capital S that the other believers, those who profess
the name of Christ, have arrived at. We’ve allowed this term to
be taken away from us, first by the Catholic Church and others. There is no great hierarchy of
super-Christians that somehow over time get voted into an exclusive
club called sainthood. I’m taking it back. Saints refer to you. If you have
placed your faith in Christ, if you have begun to follow Him
and walk with Him, if you are a disciple of Christ, you are
a saint. Already. And you don’t have to
die and be voted in to some club. It’s equally true of all converts. The holy one, though, is not
just one who professes Christ merely, but the professed Christian
who, as one said, is assumed to be what he claims to be. In other words, there must be
a sign of life. You should look for a sign of
life and hope. There must be a work of grace
begun in you. One pastor described it in these
terms. He said, saintliness or holiness
must not be taken here subjectively as an innate ethical quality
attached to the believers. It’s not like we’re saints by
birth. It’s not like we achieve some perfection, some inward purity, some devotion
to God that is so much better than all the rest of those about
us that somehow we can be seen as saints with a capital S and
the rest of them are just would-be’s. But this must be understood,
he goes on, in an objective sense, in inseparable connection with
Jesus Christ as being sanctified in him. In themselves, the believers
are not yet holy, they are only holy in Christ, considered in
the light of his righteousness as set apart for him, liberated
by him and in his blood and through his spirit, they are holy. That’s
the beautiful thing about this, is we are saints and we’ve done
absolutely nothing to earn it. We’ve done absolutely nothing
to lay hold of it. Just like the children of Israel
were set apart as a holy people. They were set apart by God. That’s what’s emphasized here.
Christians are called saints. They’re set apart for God. They’re
sanctified. That’s what the word means. Set
apart by His Spirit. When they profess Christ and
in their growth in grace, they are set apart from the rest of
the world. They’re set apart even from professors
of Christianity. And it’s directed to all the
saints. What a beautiful thought. When Paul wrote this letter to
the Philippians. There’s no doubt in my mind that
he had Lydia in mind. There’s no doubt in my mind that
he had the Philippian jailer. But you know what? He didn’t want even the least
saint, the one that slinked into the back of the service and cowered
in the corner. He didn’t want that saint overlooked. Number one, he wanted him to
know that they were saints, but he wanted him to know that they
were included in the caring concerns and in God’s as well. There were
no second class citizens. Christ doesn’t differentiate
between the rich and the poor. All are welcome. And those who serve the church
by caring for those cannot differentiate from those for whom they care. But I want you to look again
at the passage. Because I told you that Jesus
is the harbour of the saints. And we come to really one of
the most simple and at the same time most profound thoughts in
all of Scripture. When Paul wrote to all the saints,
in Christ Jesus, Paul gave us one of the most profound thoughts
in Scripture. Sixteen times in the Philippians
letter, he has this concept in Christ or in him. This in Christ
as being fear of the Lord Jesus Christ. One set of this term,
it may without exaggeration be called the most important one
in all of Paul’s epistles. Did you get that? I mean, when
you think about the grand subject that Paul treats, right? The sovereignty of God, sanctification,
justification, and all those great, big theological words
that Paul treats in his epistles. for someone to say that without
exaggeration, this, that, in Christ, those two little words
may be the most important words in all of Paul’s epistles that
should make us to sit up and take notice. It goes on to say, it was by
virtue of union with Christ that those to whom Paul writes were
saints and believers. And it’s only because of the
fact that they were in Christ. For in connection with Christ,
they receive every spiritual blessing. If it hadn’t been for
their relationship with Christ, in other words, there is no sainthood
There is no sanctification. There is no calling. There is
no faith. It’s only because of that that
they were now saints and believers. The Apostle regards here Christ
as the very foundation of the church. And apart from Him, they
can do nothing. Not only that, but they are nothing
without Christ. They amount to nothing spiritually. Apart from Him, they are desperately
poor. In intimate fellowship with Him,
they are inexpressibly rich. It is that sphere of Christ where
we are everything and outside of which we are nothing. Let me just walk you through. And the only way to do this is
just to sit back and listen to what Paul equates to this realm
of being in Christ. And I’m not going to read every
passage. I’m going to skip along, as it
were, the mountaintops to show you what it means, what blessings
accrue to us being in Christ. Number one, redemption. Romans
3.24. A redemption is in Christ. We are made alive to God, Romans
6.11, in Christ. We have eternal life, Romans
6.23, in Christ. The love of God comes to us,
Romans 8.39, in Christ. We are made one body by being
in Christ. We are sanctified, 1 Corinthians
1.2, in Christ. We enjoy the grace of God 1 Corinthians
1.4, in Christ. We were made alive. 1 Corinthians
15.22, in Christ. He establishes us in our faith. 2 Corinthians 1.21, we triumph because of the fact that we are
in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2.14, we are new creatures. Because we are in Christ, 2 Timothy
5.17. We are reconciled to God, 2 Corinthians
5.19. We enjoy liberty, Galatians 2.4. We are justified, Galatians 2.16.
Do you begin to get the picture that in Christ we have everything? Absolutely everything. Outside
of Christ, we are bankrupt and dead. I told you that this was a common
expression for Paul. One estimated 164 times he uses
this passage. 48 times he says, in Christ Jesus. 34 times he says, in Christ. At least 50 times he says, in
the Lord. The idea here to describe it,
it’s like a sphere or environment in which the Christian lives.
We live in Christ like a bird lives in the air, like a fish
lives in water, like the roots of a tree are down in the soil. The Christian lives in Christ. We put on Christ like a garment,
and in Christ only we live and move. One pastor said it in a more
lengthy fashion, that we are in Christ connotes
the most intimate conceivable communion between the Christian
and the living Christ. It connotes the normal sphere
of Christian life and duty. It defines the duties appropriate
to fundamental human relationships. It regulates our interaction
with one another. It is the root or characteristic
of Christian emotions, confidence, joy. From it springs unity, steadfastness,
spiritual strength. Christ is regarded simply as
the true home of the Christian. He’s our harbor. He’s where we
belong. Outside of which there is nothing. Communion with Him, said one,
is the normal element and the ultimate difference in the true
Christian life. This most intimate communion
with our Lord is seen as a present source of every form of spiritual
grace and blessing. In Him we attain to our divine
Sonship. In Him we have eternal life,
faith and love, wisdom and knowledge, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, If you think of Ephesians chapter
one, I mean, Paul said it simply every spiritual blessing. And then as Paul opens that great
chapter, he begins to enumerate just some of those blessings
that come to us simply because we are placed in Christ. In him. unfolds the purpose of the ages
there in Philippians 1. In Him, God shows us before the
foundation of the world. In Him, He freely forgives our
sins. In Him, God enlivens us to new
life. In Him, God raised us up to sit
with Christ. In Him, Paul says, are all spiritual
blessings. We are united to Christ like
a branch in a tree. But it goes even beyond that.
We are in Christ. Outside of Christ, Robert Johnstone
said, none are saints, but all genuine believers are saints
because they are in Him. And thus, they have within them
the pulsations and working of His life. And the more that by
faith we draw from His life, the evermore we are saintly.
The thought of the union of Christians to the Lord is one of the most
precious of them all. For in that union, they recognize
the spring of all spiritual happiness and strength.” Paul said, Not only is Jesus
the master of the workmen, Jesus is the harbor of saints. In Him, we enjoy everything. And outside of Christ, there
is nothing. But He had particular saints
in mind. And He said, Paul and Timothy,
bondservants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints, all enjoy
the same blessing. To all the saints in Christ Jesus
who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons. Thirdly, the third glorification of Christ
in this great opening passage, not only is Jesus the master
of the workmen and the harbor of the saints, thirdly, Jesus
is the fountain of blessing. He is the fountain of blessing.
In verse 2, Paul simply says, grace to you and peace from God,
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And with those words,
most people read past them so quickly they never even ponder
what it could mean. We were informed last week, and
it’s absolutely true, there is no verb, which raises some interesting
questions. This was used by Paul and by
the other writers of epistles as a standard. It was pretty
much a standard greeting. Even among some heathens, we
find some of these words. Secular and biblical, this was
a greeting, grace and peace. In every epistle, except 1st
and 2nd Timothy, we have almost these exact words. And so, in
a sense, it’s understandable. They become so familiar to us
that they become almost, you know, Maybe unimportant to our
minds, our ears. And so, we’re forced to ask the
question. Let’s pause and let’s at least ask, what do the words
mean? What could they mean? Some have
said there’s no meaning at all. It’s kind of a biblical, how
are you? I mean, try this sometime, right? You’re out. You go to
get on an elevator. Somebody says, hey, how are you
doing? Go ahead and tell them. Just try this. Go ahead and tell
them. You know, I’m running late today.
I have this flat tire. You know, we’re behind on this.
Bill and my boss, man, what? And just, I mean, really give
it all to him. I mean, he asked, right? So some
people would say that this is kind of a biblical how are you,
that it doesn’t really mean anything. Paul isn’t intending to convey
anything. The problem with that is that
he says Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. There is nothing casual in that.
The second option. There’s a second option that
it’s some kind of a prayer. May you come to know that would
be the verb supplied. May you come to know grace and
peace. The problem is that he has already identified them as
saints who obviously would have already come to know both grace
and peace, as you’ll see in a moment. Perhaps there’s a third option,
that it’s simply a statement. Grace and peace have come to
you as if stating the obvious is what Paul is about. Fourth
option, that it’s a prayer of blessing. May God’s grace and peace continue
to you.” And that’s a good possibility. And then there’s a fifth. That
it’s a combination of those last two. Not only a statement, but
also a prayer of continued blessing. Having received grace and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, may God continue
to bless Let’s take it apart just briefly.
This grace, you know it, it’s favor, unmerited favor, very
near equivalent to the English word favor. And as one said,
the free favor of God, from grace rather, the free favor of God
comes all our blessings. None of them are deserved. Not
even our salvation was earned or deserved. And its use in this
greeting, the main point of it is that the manifestation of
the divine favor in giving and enlightening and in sanctifying
us through the Holy Spirit is all by grace. He reminds us that
everything we have is by way of unmerited favor. Our salvation, the fact that
we came to faith, the way that we live now, the food that we
enjoy, the air that we breathe, the freedoms that we have, it’s
all by grace. One said it this way, it refers
to God’s spontaneous, unmerited favor in action, freely bestowed
loving kindness in operation, bestowing salvation upon guilt-laden
sinners. Grace is the fountain. It signifies favor. Divine favor. It’s that good will on God’s
part that only provides and applies salvation. It’s the only way
that salvation could ever come. There’s no way that anyone could
ever earn it. And in that sense, you can’t
possibly read through this and think that those words are meaningless. The very mention of the word
grace brings with it a mountain, a truckload, thoughts and blessings. This grace not only provides
and applies salvation, but blesses, cheers and assists believers,
said one Puritan. It is that many-sided favor that
comes in the form of hope to saints in despondency, joy in
sorrow, patience in suffering, victory to those who are under
assault. What a blessing grace is. that
without grace we couldn’t last a single day. But if grace is the fountain,
then peace, said one, belongs to the stream of spiritual blessing
which flows from that fountain. This peace is the smile of God
as it reflects itself in the hearts of the redeemed. the assurance
of reconciliation through the blood of the cross, true spiritual
wholeness and prosperity. It is the great blessing which
Christ, by His atoning sacrifice, bestowed upon the church.” Peace. First and foremost, peace with
God. And then peace that flows out
to our other relationships. Grace is the free and loving
favor of God. Peace. is the rest and favor
that we have because of it. Grace is the source, said Jonathan
Edwards. Peace is the consummation. These
words are not little words. They’re not unimportant words.
I would suggest to you that these two words sum up the whole work
of redemption, the gospel itself. Grace includes everything that
is considered when you think of the love of God applied towards
sinners. Peace is that gracious fruit
that flows from it. Think back to the facts of the
matter. We are, says Scripture, God’s
enemies. In Galatians, Paul points out
the deeds of the flesh. Immorality, impurity, sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife. In Romans 1.30, he refers
to those outside of Christ as haters of God by nature. Strife comes second nature to
them. They are ultimately at war with
God. That’s exactly what James says,
that friendship with the world is hostility toward God. And
we are of the world if we are outside of Christ. But God is
a God of peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
It’s exactly why Christ came, Luke 179, to shine upon those
who sit in darkness in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in
the way of peace. The gospel message was and is
a message of peace. The Christian message is called
in Ephesians 6.15, the gospel of peace. And it is as one who is a mediator
in court who suddenly declares peace. A treaty has been enacted. Ephesians 2.13 says it this way,
now in Christ, you who were formerly far off have been brought near
by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace,
who made both groups into one, abolishing in His flesh the enmity
which is the law of commandments contained in the ordinances,
thus establishing peace. enacted this peace treaty. And
it’s because of that we have communion with God. It’s only
because of that that a sinner can be at peace with God. Because of that, we have clarity
of conscience. Because of that, we have personal
holiness. Because of that, we have corporate
unity. Because of that, we have civil
harmony. We are to be peaceable in our cities and towns. Because of that, we are to be
those out reconciling the world to Christ. We are to take the
message of peace. To suggest that when Paul says
here, grace and peace, that those are casual words that just fall
carelessly off the apostles’ lips in some kind of a passing
greeting, is to miss some of the greatest theology that the
New Testament offers. Jesus is the harbor of the saints. Jesus is the fountain of all
blessing. Let’s pray again. O merciful God, we pause and
bow before You, humbled by the depth and the import of those
great words. Lord Jesus, we see that You are
all glorified. We acknowledge that you are the
master of the church. You are the master of the weapon.
We acknowledge that you are the only hope and harbor of saints. And you are the very beginning
of all blessing. From you all things flow. Grace
and peace. We thank You and we praise You.
In Jesus’ name, amen.