Shabbat Shalom. Please open your Bibles to the book of Philippians, chapter 1, the first two verses. We have had the introduction to the letter that Shaul Paul wrote to the believers at Philippi. And I would like today to read the first 11 verses of Philippians chapter 1 and to begin to develop and make some remarks about the first 11 verses of this chapter. Philippians chapter 1, verses 1 to 11. And I'm reading as you follow me, please. Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, in the Messiah Yeshua, which are at Philippi with the overseers and the servants. Grace be unto you and peace, shalom, from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mine for you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he which had begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus the Messiah. Even as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bounds of Yeshua the Messiah, and this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offense, till the day of Christ, the day of Mashiach, being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God.

I will stop here with the 11th verse of this chapter. Now, brothers and sisters, we were meeting together in our last time when we did an introduction to the book of Philippians. And we have given the vast majority of the introduction already in verses 1 and 2, but I just want one more point to mention today about the book of Philippians. To remind you that Shaul Paul was in prison in Rome, writing to believers in the local city called Philippi, or the Philippian believers, and he's writing to them this letter. And the reason that he wrote this letter is in order to help them to desire to serve the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, and to have him as their life, as their example, as their object, and as their strength.

In writing this letter to them, he was responding to their love for him because they have sent gifts to him, they took care of him, They really had a love for Paul, who was now in prison in the city of Rome. The interesting thing about this epistle, and while you find out many times the word joy there, or rejoicing, you will understand here that if a person is going to have joy in his life following the Messiah, this person must be totally occupied with our Lord Jesus. You know, sometimes you and I, we are believers and we belong to Him. We know that we are going to heaven.

We know that our sins are forgiven. But we don't have that joy, that happiness in Jesus, that happiness in Yeshua the Messiah. It was Nehemiah, the servant of the God of our fathers, the God of Israel, who said to our own people Israel, the joy of the Lord is your strength. If you are going to be walking with God and enjoying the things of the Lord, One has to have the joy that is found in the person of the Messiah. So as we are studying this, I would like to highlight every chapter have a theme. Chapter 1, the theme is that the Messiah ought to be our life.

This is in chapter 1 and verse 21. Notice this verse in verse 21. For me to live is Christ, is the Messiah, and to die is gain. Paul said to the Philippians. Chapter 2, the Messiah become our example. Notice in chapter 2 and verse 5, Let this mind be in you which was also in the Messiah Yeshua. This is chapter 2. Chapter 3, the Messiah becomes our object. He ought to be our object. Look at chapter 3 and verse 10. Paul is saying that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering being made conformable unto His death. And then chapter 4, the Messiah is our strength. This is chapter 4 and verse 13.

Notice what Paul is saying. I can do all things through the Messiah, the Mashiach, that give me strength. You see, every chapter is introducing before the believers in Philippi and you and I the importance of having Yeshua, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ before our hearts and our lives. If we are going to serve him, he must become our life, our example, our object, and our strength. And you know very well that we cannot do anything unless we have him as our life, our example, our object, and our strength. And here, Shaul Paul is sitting in a prison in Rome, and he can write these things to those believers in the city of Philippi.

The second thing that I want to mention also by way of understanding the book is that really this book is for those who want to serve the Lord. And every believer in Yeshua the Messiah ought to be a servant. In Hebrew we call it Mesharet or Eved, the servant of the Lord. And I'm imagining to myself as a Hebrew believer when Apostle Paul is sitting in prison as a Jewish believer in Yeshua the Messiah, what did he have to read? if he had any text any bible text in his hand he probably had the tanakh the old testament in his hand and when he was reading he was not reading new testament writings because he was just writing now the letter to the philippians so he must have been reading the tanakh the old testament the hebrew scripture and because he was talking about the servant the importance of serving the lord and the servant has to be occupied with yeshua he must have been reading for example Isaiah chapter 42, where God said to our forefathers, the people of Israel, Behold my servant, Isaiah 42 and verse 1.

Whom I will uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delight. I have put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth justice to the nations. God was presenting before Israel the servant supreme, the Messiah Yeshua himself. And he said, look, here is my servant. And Paul wanted to learn of that servant of the Lord, the servant of Jehovah. And so when he writes this letter to the Philippian believers, he's writing to them in order to encourage them to say, you are going to serve the Lord your aim must be Yeshua your attitude must be like Yeshua your appetite must be like Yeshua and your ability to serve and to live for him must be through the person of Yeshua the Messiah so in chapter 1 the aim Yeshua the Messiah chapter 2 the attitude must be like yeshua the messiah chapter 3 the appetite brothers and sisters are you hungry for spiritual life it must be yeshua the messiah and you know i got a call just recently from one of the sisters who said to me i just have hunger for the things of the lord for yeshua the messiah it's like she's like consuming the scripture learning from the word of god and growing spiritually is that our appetite that's what Shaul Paul is writing in the third chapter and chapter four the ability to serve God it must be only through the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and that's the thought that we have here in the book of Philippians and so I just wanted you to bear in mind in chapter one, he is our life.

In chapter two, he is our example. In chapter three, he is our object. In chapter four, he is our strength. In chapter one, we aim to be like him. In chapter two, we have to have an attitude like him. In chapter three, we have to have an appetite for him.

In chapter four, we have to have the ability that come from him if we are going to live for him in this world and every time we fail and we fail many times it is because he was not the object of our hearts and so now brothers and sisters let's look at these 11 verses of philippians chapter 1 in the greetings in verses 1 and 2 he greets the philippians he's saying shalom to the philippians and i wanted to notice that as i have already mentioned it before in verse 1 Paul and Timothy is the servant of Yeshua the Messiah to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with their bishops and

deacons with the overseers and the servants notice in the very first verse he's mentioning the word servants because that's the theme of the book of Philippians he already there he's saying look Timothy and I Paul and Timothy are servants we are servants who we are servants of the person of the lord jesus the messiah and he's writing this to all the saints in christ jesus which are at philippi with the overseers that's the greek word for bishop and then deacons it's come from the word servants a servant write to a servant the servants Paul and Timothy writing to the believers at the city of Philippi now notice he called them saints you know sometimes you

hear some people who say to us that there are only a few selected people who are saints and the rest just like laity it's only us the clergy are the saints and the rest are just laity well apparently the bible never have this distinction every believer in yeshua the messiah is a saint yes it is true that we are not always acting as saints but nevertheless positionally the word saints come from the word hallowed or being set apart, every believer in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah is a saint.

And so the Apostle Paul from prison adding Timothy to the writing and saying we are servants of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and we are writing to all the saints that are in Yeshua the Messiah which are in the city of philippi and this is important to understand every one of us who are believer and i trust all of us here are believers in yeshua the messiah we are saints we have been set apart for god positionally not because we have earned we have done something it is all a gift of god we have been chosen in the messiah before the foundation of the world we have accepted him in time and we became set apart for God positionally or yes we need to be set apart for God practically in our lives and sometimes unfortunately we are not practically because sin so quickly easily beset us the writer to the Hebrews have said but lay this aside the sin which does so easily beset us and be occupied with Yeshua so you and I can become servants of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

So remember, brothers and sisters, it is written, this letter, to all believers. And all believers are saints, positionally. And all believers are called to live a life that is godly, to please the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And all of us are called to serve Him.

I can tell you this, the best part of my life began when I got saved and accepted the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and began to desire to serve him this is the best part of the life because like we just mentioned a 33 years old young man in a moment his life was taken away from him how do you know how much time you have to live we might finish the meeting we might not finish the meeting today and the lord might take one of us or more than one of us the rapture may occur we do not know what may happen at any moment beloved brothers and sisters but we are called to serve

the lord and that the lord will be an example to us that means that we will need some humility in our life self-judgment in our life we're going to talk about it as we are studying the book of philippine and so the apostle Paul is writing to them in the greeting verse 1 he called himself a servant and he's writing to the leadership to the overseers and to the servants in verse 1 notice what it says in verse 2 that is very beautiful he's wishing to the Philippian believers grace this is chesed and peace this is shalom and he's saying to them grace be unto you and peace from God our father and from our

Lord jesus our lord yeshua the messiah he's wishing the grace that we need in our life every day but also peace shalom the peace that passes all understanding now imagine he's sitting in prison if there's anyone who needed to have the peace of god is him if there is anyone who needed the grace of god it's him but he's writing to the believers at philippine because he knows Because like you and I know very well that the life of the believer is not an easy path.

There are challenges, there are difficulties in our life, there are issues that we have to deal with, family issues, work issues, financial issues, health issues, all the issues that a believer experiences in his life or her life. So we need grace, chesed, and we need peace, shalom, every day.

it is not the grace that saves us now but it is the grace that keeps us every day it's not the shalom with god but it is the shalom of god that we need it every day of our lives but notice as he's writing this to them he says this is the grace and the peace this is the chesed and the shalom that comes from god the father and from our lord yeshua the messiah now is here's another a beautiful thing to get a hold of all of a sudden the apostle paul is introducing the fact that when we became believers god becomes our father our abba we have abba that loves us we have

a father that cares for his own people and therefore we are no longer strangers to god we became sons of the father John 1 12 says as many as received him received Yeshua to them he gave the right or the authority to be called the sons the children the daughters of God we have a father you know we have someone that we can say Abba Abba my father Romans chapter 8 verses 14 in verse 15 look what Paul said to the believers at Rome he said to them for as many as are led of the spirit of God they are the sons of God for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to

fear but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba our father Abba Avinu Abba our Father you remember when Yeshua was on the tree he says Father Abba I commit unto thy hand I commit my spirit you remember in the garden of Gethsemane he cried Father if it is possible Abba if it is possible take away this cup from me we also now became sons of the fathers and daughters of the father whereby we can cry Abba Father so the Apostle Paul is saying I really wish for you grace, chesed peace, shalom that comes from God the Father and from our Lord Yeshua the Messiah so this is the greetings beautiful greetings

to the ones that are called servants to live a life for the Lord as servants to live for our Lord Yeshua the Messiah here in this world well in verses 3 to 7 beloved brothers and sisters this is the second point that i want to mention here in in philippians chapter 1 paul give thanks to god for the believers in philippi i want you to notice how he does it first of all in verse 3 paul thanked god for the philippians Whenever he thought about them It says in verse 3 Notice how personal Paul is I thank my God Upon every remembrance of you Now he probably is sitting in prison there And he is

thinking about the believers That the Lord used him to share the gospel with He probably think of this assembly And this assembly This local assembly This city This town and he remembered the philippians and you know why he specifically speak about the philippians in such a way because many of the churches neglected to care for the apostle paul but not the philippians the philippians took care of him really had concern and show concern for the apostle paul and Paul never forgot that he remembered their love for him when he thought about them it really moved his heart and he says every time when I think about you beloved brothers and sisters in Philippi I really

give thanks to the Lord for you imagine he probably was thinking about Lydia the Jewish believer lady who became a believer and opened her house when he entered Philippi he probably think about the philippian jailer who wanted to kill himself when he thought that paul and all the prisoners went out of prison but yet he says what must i do to become saved and paul said believe on the lord yeshua the messiah and you shall be saved and he got saved gloriously him and all his family and paul was thinking about those believers and many others that have come to faith in Yeshua the Messiah.

So Paul said, I thank my God. This word, my God, remind me again of Yeshua. When Yeshua was on the tree, he said, Elohi, Elohi, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Paul wanted the example of the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah who became his life. And he says, I thank my God. upon every remembrance of you. Every time I remember you, I have a good and a positive thing to think about you, beloved brothers and sisters, he says to the Philippians. Isn't it wonderful to be able to remember each other in a positive light? You know, in other places, for example, John talked about another person who he had to remember how he treated him and others when he came to the meeting in a certain locality and he didn't treat them well.

But here the Apostle Paul, Shaul, remembering positive things about the believers in Philippi who thought about him, who loved him, who served him, who ministered to him when he was in prison. Then he continued, notice that in verse 4, a Paul thanked God for the Philippians at all times. In verse 4, he says, Always in every prayer of mine for you all, making requests with joy. You know, Paul was a praying person. Almost every epistle, every letter he wrote, he says, pray without ceasing. Always praying. He was always speaking about prayer. And so here you find him again speaking about prayer. And he said, I always and in every prayer of mine making requests for you with joy.

You can just imagine him sitting somewhere in Rome in prison and bowing his knees and praying to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the Messiah, Yeshua, praying for the Philippian believers. Now you might say, well, they need to pray for him because he is in prison. Well, of course, I'm sure they have prayed for him. but he's praying for them. You know, it had been told that believers in the former Soviet Union and maybe in China and the places where there is a lot of oppression in Muslim countries, the believers, they're praying for the North American believers so we can at least carry on to follow the Lord because when we don't have persecution and we don't have difficulties in our lives, we neglect the things of the Lord.

So they end up praying for others who are free and have liberty. And yet, the ones that are in bond seem to pray for those who have many liberties. And thank God for the prayer of the Apostle Paul, as he mentioned here. Always, in every prayer of mine, I pray for you making requests and I do it with joy. He's happy, he's joyful to pray for the brothers and sisters at Philippi. And now notice in verse 5, he continues, he is now giving thanks to God because of who they were to him. They were very dear to him. He says in verse 5, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.

Now here's the word, the Greek word for fellowship is kononia. Kononia means having things in common. You know, sometimes when we have a certain meal and a certain time together, we call it, oh, we had a very good fellowship together. But real biblical fellowship is always around the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, and it has to do with having things in common. You know, the thing that you and I have in common is that you and I belong to the Messiah, Yeshua. You and I are saved by grace. You and I are having a hope to go to heaven. This is the fellowship that you and I have.

And Paul said this to the brothers and sisters of Philippi. He said, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day even until now. Again, he's looking back to the earlier days when he came to Philippi. And he visited that city and he shared the gospel. And people have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. And since that time, they had things in common. They had a kononia. They have the things of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, they had in common. The word fellowship, sometimes people try to explain it, two fellows in a ship. But really, it's much more than two fellows in a ship. It has to do with having the things of God in common.

We enjoy the things of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in common and specifically in connection with the gospel. And what is the gospel? The gospel is that the Messiah came from heaven to become a redeemer. The Messiah died for our sins according to the scripture. 1 Corinthians 15. And he was buried and he rose again on the third day according to the scripture. That's the gospel. the glad tidings, the news that God provided a way of salvation for sinners. And here the apostle is saying to the believers, he's so thankful that they had fellowship with him in the gospel. And it is not only for a temporary season from the first day until now.

The now, of course, when he's writing that he was in prison, But it was from the beginning when they have come to trust Yeshua the Messiah. Turn with me to Acts chapter 2 for a moment. Here's the word fellowship mentioned in the early days of the church age, of the assembly, right in the city of Yerushalayim. It says in Acts chapter 2 and verse 42, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, In fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayer. And the fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believe were together and had all things in common, and so on.

And you can see how the importance of the fellowship of believers together. It's so sad that today, in the last days of the church, the church is so divided and so scattered and so many views on doctrine and all sort of views on practices and teaching that the fellowship of believers is not the same way like it was in the early days of the assembly in the city of Jerusalem. We are living in the last days, in the Laodicean age, where things are falling apart, yet positionally the believers have the same thing in common because we belong to the same Savior. Here's another verse. In 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 9, Paul writing this time to the Corinthians, and he said to them, God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Yeshua the Messiah our Lord.

All believers are called unto this fellowship of His Son, which is Jesus the Messiah, our Lord. And so you see, beloved brothers and sisters, here the Apostle Paul writing, and he's very thankful for the believers at Philippi, and he's thankful that they have fellowship with him in the Gospel, and they didn't stop because of anything. They continue practically like they were positionally. They had fellowship with the Gospel, with him in a practical way, as it's mentioned here in verse 5. Now verse 6. It is part of him giving thanks for the believers. And I want you to notice here in verse 6, he has a confidence that God is able to finish what he started.

And I think this is one of the most famous verses that many brothers and sisters use this in their own lives. Being confident of this very thing. that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus the Messiah. Now notice this, brothers and sisters, that Paul has confidence, not in himself, he has confidence in God. He trusts God that God is able to finish what he started. Do you know, beloved brothers and sisters, sometimes a person claims to accept Yeshua the Messiah. And then time passes by, and we look at his or her life, and if they are not growing spiritually, we begin to wonder whether this person ever truly have accepted the Messiah.

But I want to say this. If this person, he or she, have truly accepted the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, this person is never going to let go because God is going to work on him. The Spirit of God will convict him or her. Whatever the situation may be, and his or her life, God is going to continue the work. And you know, sometimes we look at ourselves, at our own life, and we wonder, Lord, what is going on? How come so quickly I'm getting discouraged, and I'm not growing the way I should have been growing, Lord? What is wrong? Well, here's how Pastor Paul is confident, not in himself, not in his preaching, not in his ability.

But he said, I've been confident of this very thing that he, God, the Messiah Yeshua, which has begun a good work in you, beloved brothers and sisters of the city of Philippi, he will perform it until the day of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. He is able to finish what he began. God is not doing half a job. God is not doing a partial work. He began a work in person's life, and he's working this out in our lives. That does not mean that all of a sudden we are going to be mature believers. No, in order to become mature believers, we need to go through some exercises and challenges in our lives.

And so what he began, he is going, as Paul said, he is going to perform it. He is going to carry it through. He is not going to do a partial job. And it's so beautiful to know that because we can be sure, even about your life and mine, that God is dealing with us and working with us. He never leave us. He never forsake us. He work in our lives. He began a good work. He led us to Yeshua. He brought us to Himself. He's going to perform it.

But you notice that He used the word until the day of Jesus the Messiah of Yeshua HaMashiach what does that mean the day of Jesus the Messiah do you know brothers and sisters that there is a day coming and it may be today that the Lord of glory Yeshua the Messiah the one who saved us the one who purchased us years ago when he died for us on the tree the very same Yeshua the very same Jesus is going to come to take us home and none of us going to miss disappointment every believer that trusted in a messiah is going to be taken to be raptured and be with him forever of course we

are going to go through the judgment seat of the messiah where everything that we have done in our life going to be evaluated but nevertheless there is an appointed day in which the lord is going to come the day of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah Yom Yeshua HaMashiach we say it in Hebrew He is going to come and He is going to take us to be with Him at home and then the work will be done completed oh yes again we distinguish between positional truth and practical truth positionally we are called saints set apart positionally we are perfect in the sight of God but practically he's working in our lives he's working in the life

of Paul when he wrote he was working in the life of the Philippians to whom he wrote and he's working in your life and in mine he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Yeshua Christ the Messiah so sometimes when we are going through trials sometimes when we have difficulties in our life we don't need to ask the Lord why me but we should ask the question what do I need to learn from this Lord how can I honor you through this difficult time in my life what is the lesson that I need to learn help me Lord that I will take things from your way

after all why Christ the Messiah he's our life he should be our aim as we live here in this world beautiful thought that we have here in these verses now go to verse 7 again and Paul continue in verse 7 and Paul now he saying to the believers at Philippi that it was meat for him it was right for him to think in such a way about the brothers and sisters in Philippi he says I think so much about you I pray always for you I don't neglect to mention you in my prayer to God and I do it rightfully because I know who you were he's saying in verse 7 even as it is

suit or meet or right for me to think these of you all why and he gave them three reasons why in verse 7 why it was right for him to think in such a way like this because number one he says i have you in my heart in as much as in my bonds and in the defense and in the confirmation of the gospel you are all partakers in my grace what he's saying i'm right in thinking positive about you in loving you so much and having you in my heart, it is right for me to think like this because you cared for me and you participated with me in my bonds when I was

in prison, in my defense, the defense of the gospel and the confirmation of the gospel.

You stood with me, Paul is saying. You are all partakers of my grace. He was in the front line, of course.

They were in the meetings, you might say, in the city of Philippa he was going through this missionary journey from place to place he was persecuted he experienced persecution and suffering in the entire life of the apostle Paul you know when the apostle Paul went to a meeting at Philippa he didn't come with a tie he didn't have this nice shirt and nice pants and he looked really nice he came perhaps with a long beard and maybe just finished some kind of experience he was suffering for the name of yeshua and they were participating with him they supported him they prayed for him they were partakers notice the word again ye all are partakers of

my grace you helped along the same word by the way very similar to the word koinonia you had fellowship with me you participated with me oh yeah i was in a front line and you were at home you were the staff and i was in the front line but you participated with me in my being in prison in the defense and in the confirmation of the gospel that's the only way of salvation you stood with me and beloved brothers and sisters Paul lost everything he's going to talk about it in the next chapters he lost his own family he lost his own nation he lost the privileges that he had all for the name of

Yeshua the Messiah sometimes we wonder you know when we get persecution we say why why i'm a believer things supposed to be so easy in my life now that i'm a saved person paul says listen i stood for the gospel remind me of roman 1 16 i'm not ashamed of the gospel of the messiah for it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone that believe paul said in roman 1 16 to the jew first and also to the Gentile I am not ashamed of it because it is the only way of salvation and Philippian brothers and sisters you stood with me when I was in prison for the gospel when I was defending

the gospel when I was confirming the gospel you stood with me you were all partakers with this grace that God provided for me as I was serving the Lord do you know brothers and sisters they stood with him when others didn't look at chapter 4 for a moment verse 15 he's saying to them at the end of the letter now ye philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when i departed for macedonia no church no assembly no congregation communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but you only now imagine paul is traveling around ministering to the saints and so on and sacrificing himself for the work of the lord and according

to this verse the only assembly church that supported him was the church of the philippians and that's why they filled his heart because they participated with him they understood what he had gone through when he was serving the Lord so beloved brothers and sisters verses 1 and 2 of chapter 1 he is greeting the brethren verses 3 to 7 he giving thanks to God the father on behalf of these believers in the city of Philippi now verses 8 9 10 and 11 Paul show concern for the Philippian brothers and sisters and first of all in verse 8 he's longing after the believers you know when you long after someone it says in verse 8 for

God is my record how greatly I longed after you in the bowels of Jesus the Messiah can you imagine you know when you fall in love with someone and when you love when a man and a woman meet each other and they fall in love with each other and there is a distance to separate them and how they long to see each other again the only thing that they have on their mind is this future individual that I just met and I love him or I love her so much.

I want so much to be with him. So much to be with her. Here is the Apostle Paul who loved the brothers and sisters. He wanted so much to be with them. But he couldn't come out. He's in prison because of the name of Yeshua the Messiah. And notice he used the word in the bowels or in the tender mercies Of Yeshua the Messiah You know when you fall in love And here you see Brothers and sisters It's the love for the brethren The love for the people of God He loved them so much He longed He says God is my record You don't know my heart But God knows my heart He says He is my record He is my witness He knows my heart How much I love you He says And I'm longing to see you in the tender mercies of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Amazing to see the heart of Shaul Paul for the brothers and sisters. That's why he said earlier in verse 7, he said, it is right for me to think this of you. Because they really participated in his service for God. They really loved him and they showed it in a practical way. And so he said, God is my record. This expression, tender mercy of Yeshua the Messiah. You know, the Lord is so tender. The Bible says, for God so loved the world, the tenderness of God that He gave His only begotten Son. We read in Ephesians chapter 5, it says, husband, love your wife. Yes, the Messiah loved the assembly, the church, and gave Himself for her.

About Israel, we read in Jeremiah, I have loved you with an everlasting love, God said to our nation, the nation of Israel. And Paul said in Galatians 2, verse 20, The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And Paul loved the believers at Philippot. And he loved them so much that I long to be with you, to see you, to have you beside me, to share with you, to have fellowship with you. But I can't. I'm in prison. And so what is left to do? What is left to do is to pray. And so the next verses, 9, 10, and 11, Paul is really praying to God on behalf of the brothers and sisters in the city of Philippi.

And he's praying again for three things now. And you and I can apply this to ourselves as we read the text. Let me read verse 9, 10, and 11. And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in the knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of the Messiah, that ye being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. you notice he's not praying for them again he prayed earlier he said i don't cease to mention but he continued now and he's like took a break and he's continued to pray he says brothers and sisters in philippine god is my record i long for you after the bowels or the mercies of yeshua the messiah and because i long for you i pray what does he pray three things notice that verse Verse 9, he prayed that their love may abound yet more and more.

Verse 10, he prayed that they will approve the things which are better. And verse 11, he prayed that they will be filled with fruits of righteousness. In other words, brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul is praying for spiritual growth of the believers. As might as well, someone would pray it for you and I today.

what does he want to see in the life of the Philippians look at it verse 9 first of all he says I pray number one that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in judgment or in justice I want and I'm praying to God that your love love for each other love for the Lord Yeshua the Messiah love for the people of the world as they will hear the message of the gospel he said I want your love to grow yet more that it may abound yet more and more and you can add more and more and more now do you think he decided this on his own well what do

you think he remembered you know earlier in the gospel in chapter 13 when Yeshua went in the Passover time if you remember he sat with his disciples in Yerushalayim and he says by this shall all may know that you are my disciples how if you have love one towards another do you know it's so attractive if somebody come to a midst of a congregation or an assembly and they see the love of the brethren towards one another you cannot help it you leave he or she leave the meeting they say listen one thing i may haven't liked anything else not the building not the worship service, not the singing, not this, but one thing I

really enjoyed is to observe the brethren love one another.

Now love is not only hugging and kissing, and I told you I love to do that, but it's not that only. Love is bearing with one another. Love is being patient with one another. Love is being gracious with one another. Love is forgiving one another. Love is not imposing on one another, our own views in our own way. Love is, read 1 Corinthians chapter 13, love is being like the person, in some small way like the person of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. And so he says, abound more and more and more. How beautiful it is to see this among the people of God. So he's praying for that.

This I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge notice that and in judgment or justice knowledge means to know more of the things of god brothers and sisters listen we don't love on expense of light of truth the truth will never change we don't change the message of the gospel or the truth of the word of god to say well we love everybody so never mind you don't believe that yeshua is god that's fine you don't believe that he is the only word of salvation this is fine you don't believe in the word of God no love does not change the truth of the word of God love is because of the truth of the word of God is that we are extending the love to one another and to others and that's why in order that you may know more that you will have more knowledge knowledge of whom?

of the person of the Lord and his word and in all just judgment or judge, you will be discerning and doing the things that is right. So that's the first thing he's praying. Secondly, now in verse 10, that they will prove or approve those things which are better. Better choices. Notice in verse 10, that ye may approve things that are excellent. That ye may be sincere and without offense. Now, the things which are excellent is to make better choices. You know, it's like a father and a mother, right? It's like parents who raise up a child, a daughter, a son, and say, listen, make a better choice.

Listen, while you're being fooled, while you are going in your own way and trying to get your own distrust in the Lord, make a better decision in your life. That's what our parents wanted for us, and that's what we want for our parents, and that's what the younger one, when they're going to get married and have children, They will want for their children to make better choices. And how often times we don't make a better choice. We make terrible choices in our life. And then we end up suffering the consequences. And so he's saying, I pray that ye may approve things that are excellent. To excel, things that are better for your own life, better for the testimony of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

And then he adds there, that ye may be sincere and without offense. It's so easy to offend. It's so easy not to watch ourselves, right? You know, we have to put a guard on our mouth, what we say and what we think and what we hear and what we see. We need to make better choices in our life. So it will honor the Lord and we'll be pleasing Him. And then verse 11 is the third, and this is really the last verse for this ministry, is that in verse 11 he says that he wanted them to be filled with fruits of righteousness. It says in verse 11, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Yeshua the Messiah unto the glory and praise of God.

In other words, he wanted fruit in their lives. You know, it's beautiful to see when there is fruit in our lives for the Lord. And you know, anything that we do for the Lord, any time that we spend for the Lord, any effort that we do for the Lord's thing, it's fruit of righteousness that rises up to God's nostrils. And God is so satisfied to see His own people having fruit for God. You know, we can read the ninefold fruit in relationship to the believer. You remember this verse, Galatians chapter 5, that mentioned the ninefold fruit. It says, but the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Against such there is no law. These are the ninefold fruit that God wants to produce in the life of the believer. And so, brothers and sisters, Paul in those 11 verses, he greets the brethren. He gives thanks to God for the brethren and he shows his concern for the brethren. All the Philippian brethren in the city of Philippi. And in these last three verses, he's praying for them that they will, number one, abound in love. Number two, approve the things which are excellent. And number three, be filled with fruits of righteousness. And all this, why? Here's the answer. It is found in verse 10b. Until the day of the Messiah.

Until the day of Christ. Now what is the day of Christ? The day of Christ, the day of the Mashiach, is to be distinguished with the day of the Lord that is found in the Old Testament. The day of Yehovah, the day of Jehovah. The day of Jehovah has to do with the judgment that is coming upon the face of this world in the tribulation period. The day of the Lord, it's found, Isaiah chapter 2, verse 12, Isaiah chapter 13, verse 6, Isaiah chapter 13 and verse 9, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 2, that has to do with judgment that's going to come upon this world during the tribulation time. But we don't wait for the tribulation.

We are believers in Yeshua, the Messiah, we're going to be taken out of here before the tribulation, before Tzarat Yaakov, Jacob's trouble, began. So for the believer, look at the context. The context is definitely, it doesn't talk about the judgment of this world. It's talking about believers like you and I. The day of the Mashiach, the day of Christ. That day of Christ has to do with the rapture of the church. And the time that we are going to stand before the Lord. And you know what's going to happen, brothers and sisters? For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah. All believers.

and what's going to happen in the day of the messiah the day of the messiah the judgment seat of the messiah is that everything that was done for him will remain but everything that was not done for him will be burned and sent completely away and that's why the apostle is telling the brothers and sisters he says listen we are going to stand before the lord one day and do you want to get a reward and well to say the statement well done good and faithful servant if you do he says my prayer is that your love may abound that you will approve the things which are excellent and that you will be filled with fruits of righteousness because one day we're going to stand before the lord and he's going to ask us now as believers we are not going to be judged for our sins.

It was already dealt with at the cross when he died for us. But he's going to ask us, how did you live your life as a believer? Did you love the brethren? Did you love the gospel and the world around and sharing with them the message? Did you seek to be approving that which is excellent? And have you brought fruit for God, for me? Have you brought fruit for the Lord? And Paul prayed, this is my desire for you I'm doing it when I'm in jail, I'm in prison. I'm doing it on your behalf, brothers and sisters of the Philippians, because God is my record, how I greatly long for you in the tender mercies of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

May the Lord help us to learn from what Paul wrote to the Philippians, and may the Lord work this out in your life and in mine, to love the Lord more and more, and each other more and more, to also make better choices and also have fruit for our Lord Jesus, Timothy.