Good morning. We have come to the end of our study in the book of Philippians. And this morning we're looking at three verses, a greeting, and a benediction. What's in a greeting? What's in a blessing? If you're able, would you please stand with me as we read? And here, God's Word this morning, Paul, writes the final statements to this little church that he so loves, and he says, greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, be with your spirit. Amen. Father, we come before you this morning, and we ask that you would bless your word as we gather together in your presence to hear you as you speak to us through this word. Plant it deep into our hearts. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. I grew up in a small village church, as you might know, or you've heard several times as I've mentioned. And I remember so many things about the little church where I grew up. One of the things that has always stuck with me is every time we had a guest speaker coming into a congregation, especially if they were believers, that they were asked to stand up and introduce themselves. So if there was a new face, we would ask them to stand up and tell us who they were to bring greetings from where they were coming from. And as they would always go, they were asked to share something small, like a testimony, which would turn out to be a mini sermon, if you will, that would take about 20, maybe sometimes 30 minutes preaching. But the one thing that stuck with me was the things that they would say about where they were coming from. They would tell us about their church, their pastor, their struggle, someone that was sick, someone that was having a hard time. They would share their experience about their church and what was going on. And so we almost felt connected to the church that they were coming from, even though we had no clue who they were. But our guest that morning would bring greetings to us. And because of that, we felt the connection that existed between us and the distant church that was far away that we did not know. And so we got to know how we could pray for them. We got to know how we can connect in terms of the things that we had in common with. Our suffering that was common between our churches. Our guest did it for us. See, this is how Paul ends all of his letters with a greeting and a benediction. He starts and ends the same way. And it's no different here in this book, in this small book of Philippians, that Paul is setting for us an example. He's connecting the family of God together. And he's leading by example, by showing how believers ought to relate with one another, with a welcoming spirit of grace. And as a church, that's what we're called to. And so he begins with the greeting. He says, like, greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers that are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. And again, he ends the same way he started by commending the church in Philippi to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. So much, so much has happened. So much has been said in these four brief yet dense and theologically rich chapters in Philippians. He gives this fourfold, if you will, salutation or greeting, which is a sign of a fellowship and good will. And it's love for this little church that he cares for so much. And by him saying, greet every saint. He's in fact saying, I want you to greet every single one of them individually. Remember, he knew this guy. He knew Lydia and the Jailer. And others, he knew them by name. So he says, I want you to greet each and everyone by name. What an expression of personal affection for the believers in Philippi. And then he says, but I just don't want you to greet them. I want you to greet them in Christ. Remember Paul's message all along has been, I am in Christ. I am united with Christ. I belong to him. He's acknowledging the spiritual relationship that exists between him and the body of Christ that he and the members of this church are need together into one communion, into one fellowship through the mystical body of Jesus Christ himself. And it is this union, this being in Christ that makes them all saints in Christ. And then secondly, he says, the brothers who are with me greet you. Who is he referring to? We know Timothy was with him. We know Epiphyrditis was sent to deliver and bring back the letter. Probably he is referred here, but Paul is also referring to any other man that might have showed up in prison in his house arrest and cared for him. But they have heard about you, the church in Philippi, and they send their greetings to you. And then thirdly, he says, all the saints greet you. It is the church in Rome that he was, he said some not so good things about them because they were not showing as much care as the church in Philippi. But yet he recognizes them and he says, all this guys, all this believers, they all send their greetings to you. They're not, he's not being specific of the greeting or who it is that he's sending the greetings for obvious reasons. The church in Philippi do not know them. Finally, he makes a reference to the Caesar's household. We know historically that this is the family of the Emperor Nero, but we remember we read about the the Praetorian God that was taking care of Paul and the fact that they most of them got to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. But this is also including everybody, the people who worked in the imperial court, the slaves, the civil servants, the cooks, everybody who worked in there, they got to hear the gospel. The ones who got to believe in Jesus Christ and accepted this grace, ascending their greetings to you all, especially those people because the gospel had made its way into the employees of Nero's family. Isn't there something special? Something special that you would think is happening here as Paul supporters by asking him to send greetings to their fellow Christians in Philippi to people. They had no idea who they were. They didn't even know them and yet they are saying we want you to greet them. Remember Paul never kept quiet, he would never keep his mouth shut. Not about the gospel, that everybody who came in contact with them, he always shared the gospel with them. And all these people are getting to hear Paul as his sits in his prison as his praying for this church and saying, I long to see the church in Philippi, I love to see this brothers and sisters who are in Christ Jesus. And they hear the good news of this little church and they must have felt my goodness how much we want to one day meet Paul's crown and joy, how much we want to see them and meet this little church that he cares and loves so deeply. Maybe here or here after. That's what's going on as Paul is connecting all these believers together. Who is gathered here this morning? Who is gathered in this little church here at Grace? Is it just us that are gathered here? Who is gathered every Sunday morning when we come before the presence of God? Brothers and sisters, it is not just you and I that are gathered here. It is the church of Christ universal as we gather together and join thousands upon thousands all over the wall. And we offer our prayers in our corporate time, we pray which I love so dearly. And as we pray for things that are happening in Middle East and Africa and Asia and everywhere you can imagine that God's presence is in our midst, that we are united together in fellowship as one. That's why we sing all these songs that are almost every other church is singing because we are singing to one Savior, one God and Father of Us all, because it's not just Grace, Presbyterian Church that's gathered. It's the church of Christ, one body, one family of God that is gathered regardless of the time difference, regardless of the languages, the many languages that we bring together. It is the church of Christ gathered. Paul cares, he loves and longs and prays for this little church but he's a man who is also aware of what's going on in this church. Remember we've talked about it. It's a divided church. Remember the story of Eudia and Sintiki? And yet Paul is able to send greetings to each and every one of them, even though he knows they're having problems. Why? Because Paul's love for them is not determined by their spiritual maturity. It is regarded together as a family of believers or fellowship is not determined by the fact that I'm only going to relate with a person who is mature like I am or someone who is up where I think I am. But it's determined by the spiritual family that they are united together. What does the saying go? The blood is thicker than water, right? So the saying goes, but it is even more when the blood which binds us together is the precious blood of Jesus Christ himself. Amen? Sinclair Ferguson makes that point. See things are not as different as they used to be back in the day when Paul was preaching and writing this letter. They were not so different. We're still having the same thing. You see when Paul was writing this letter, there were divisions that existed in the church or in the community, if you will. The Greeks hated the barbarians. The Jews scorned the Gentiles and the benefits of the Roman civilization were conferred along with the crosses in which national freedom fighters chucked their lives to an end. But a new humanity had been birthed. A new group of people had come together. A third world, if you will, that went beyond all those divisions and cultural divisions that boundaries that separated the Greek and the Jew and the barbarian and brought the people of God together. It was the new humanity of Christianity. It was the church of God. It was the gospel, the message of God sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins, resurrecting on the third day and ascending and sitting on the Father's right hand. It is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ that broke every barrier that was put between Gentile and Jew, barbarian and Greek. That's what Christians identify themselves with or being in Christ, being people of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Excuse me. How and what is it that you identify ourselves with? Where do we find our identity as believers, as a church, as brothers and sisters? Is it our nationalistic causes? Is it our political parties? Is it our denominational affiliations? Is it our family backgrounds? Is it our skin color? What is it that we identify ourselves? Do we identify ourselves with being in Christ Jesus? Do we see ourselves as this one humanity that has been founded on the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for our sins? See, we realized very early on that this message, this concept of fellowship and of partnership is such a huge concept in Paul's letter to the Philippian church. Remember in chapter 1 verses 5 where Paul is celebrating their fellowship and partnership in the spread of the gospel, a cohesion and bond that went beyond human relationships, the gospel. Again, in chapters 1 verses 7 he calls them, this little church he says, you guys are partakers of grace with me both in my imprisonment and in the gospel, a saving grace that you can experience suffering and sacrifice and all these things but yet you are with me as you suffer for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then Paul says in chapter 3 verses 10 that great passage that he wants to know who Christ and the power of his resurrection that he may share in his suffering. That word share is the same as fellowship, it's the same as partnership and he may share, he may fellowship, he may partner with Christ in his sufferings becoming more like him in his death, a model for every Christian believer. And then in chapters 4 and verses 14 and 5 he describes their fellowship in sharing. He says that this church is one that cares for me in my troubles. They will give out of their poverty to care for my needs even though they had nothing to give yet, they are partnering with him in the proclamation of the gospel. Their fellowship church is deeper and just sharing a couple of tea with one another. That fellowship goes beyond that, it is tied in being in Christ, gathering all their resources to see the proclamation of the gospel. And so Paul, what is he in the greeting again, Paul wants us to hear this. He wants the saints of Jesus Christ to be one as the church is one. He wants the saints of Christ to welcome one another because the church is one. He wants the church of Christ to rejoice and be together. You know why? Because they have one thing in common that they have one Lord and one Savior Jesus Christ. And now they are eternally bound in fellowship with one another but above all in fellowship with Christ himself. Isn't that a reason for us to celebrate and be joyful and to fellowship with one another? It is for me. And then secondly Paul says it's not just because we're bound together in fellowship but we're bound together by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gives this amazing, wonderful benediction in verses 23 says the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. There is no better way for Paul to end his letter. There are no better words that he could give to the church in Philippi than to wish them God's grace. Because if you've been listening to anything on this study of the book of Philippians, you know one thing is for sure that Paul's message has been one thing that Christianity, that the gospel that our lives as believers starts with God and ends with God. That your salvation begins with him and it's complete in God alone. That it is God's grace. His unmerited favor to us and that the only way for us to experience, to know and to hear and to rejoice in this grace, there's only one way and the way is Jesus Christ himself. You get Christ, you get his grace. And so in this words of final blessing, Paul is revealing to us and to you are people that have actually accepted this grace, are people that really understand what this grace is all about. They know grace and the Lord from whom our blessings flow. I love it when our worship and remodeling just kind of works together. We're just saying the benediction that the yes, the doxology, you know, God's glory as we come together and rejoice in this glory that it is God. It is from him that all blessings, all grace flows from. That the central focus on this letter of Paul is this. This Christ from whom are all things and to miss this would be to completely misunderstand and miss the point in Pauline theology and the whole of his letter. He's wishing for this church and for us, God's grace to be with his spirit, which is kind of odd because the only other place that Paul ends up benediction by saying spirit is in Galatians. The rest of places that didn't say that you would say something like be with you all, but not your spirit. Why? I think it's this. That Paul means here that their whole life is governed and dependent on God for guidance, for self-keeping, for strength, for sanctification. That is, one commentator, Gray Dana says in their whole being, in all their thoughts and desires, they must continually share and experience the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a grace that encompasses their whole life. What a glorious benediction. And I think we see something beautiful here in this benediction from Paul. We see God's work of salvation through Christ Jesus. Our need to be right with God is found in this gift of righteousness that is really given in Christ. That the gift is inseparable from the giver of that gift. You cannot have the gift unless you have the giver and the giver is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is at the center. He's a central figure in salvation and his gift comes when we possess him. It is hours by faith. That salvation is all of God and all in Christ. Isn't that what he said in chapters one verses six when he says the good work that he's began in you, he will be faithful to complete it. It is the work of salvation for us. I love where Paul summarizes elsewhere, this message of grace. I cannot find anywhere else to the message of grace that sustains us, that sustains us is summarized. Other than the book of Titus chapter two verses eleven, a passage I love to go to. He says for the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for blessed hope, the appearing of our glory, of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who zealous for good works. I need grace every day and so do you. It is only in God's grace that we find sufficient strength and heavenly reaches to meet our every need. But Paul even in reminding us that we are not home yet, as we just read. We are just pilgrims. Our citizenship is not here, it's in heaven. But as we wait for this glorious hope, that God is calling us to obedience to His word as saints, saved by grace, to be a witness, to be a shining light to the world, and that the only way we can do so is by being sustained and gathered together by God's grace. I feel like it's Paul looking up and seeing the reigning Lord Jesus. I feel it's like Paul looking back and seeing Christ of Calvary, the one who's born all of our sins, and he's the author of our righteousness. I feel like it's Paul looking forward and seeing the returning Savior who shall come back one day in a glorious day, and then he looks into his own heart and defines perfect satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ. But even more it is Paul looking at Christ in the present and seeing the riches of God himself that are stored up in Christ Jesus, the one that he had began to experience, and he says more of Christ to know and gain more of his fellowship, to enjoy more of his likeness, to display and more of his will to learn and do, that he wants nothing, absolutely nothing, but a daily deepening experience with Jesus Christ, satisfying and unsearchable. What else would we want other than to know Christ and be found in him? I think it's a conclusion that should ring in our ears like the Book of Revelation as John sees a vision in chapters 4 and 5, as God is being praised as the author and agent of redemption, that his kingship is praised as the heir of David's throne forever, that Paul longs as he wishes this grace to his people, a yearning for the day when God will be praised and all honors shall be given to him when every knee shall bow and proclaim him as God and Lord of all. It is no Christian hope, isn't it? So what do we do in the meantime? In the meantime we understand that the only way to have this yearning and this longing and this glorious hope in Christ Jesus is being sustained by his grace, and as his grace fills us with hope, we anticipate the day when he will return because you know what? Every man and women, every people from nations and tongue will gather together before his presence and proclaim him. Be sustained by his grace. What a fitting blessing for this church. What a fitting benediction for us. I wish God's grace to sustain you. See, I think it's possible as we come to the end of this book for us to hear and to learn all this great things that he's been teaching us through this book. I think it's possible for us to resolve to be like minded as he's said as believers, to resolve to always rejoice as Paul reminds us to be, to think holy thoughts, to learn the secret of contentment and all this wonderful things. But I think it's possible for us to do those things and pursue them as little gods to be coveted. I think it's very possible for us to pursue those things as ends in themselves. When everything is cheerfully offered up to God, that makes all the difference. When we resolve to pursue everything that Paul has been teaching us and accepting this blessing and this wish that he has for us to have grace and we bring it before the Lord and understand that pursuing these things is not just because they are good but because God demands them and that He gives us grace to do them and makes all the difference. Why? Because you know who receives the glory? Not you, but Jesus. Paul is giving us the remedy. He's finishing by giving the church the remedy for every human need. If you have heard anything that I've said to you, if you have understood anything that I've said to you, this is all I want you to go with. This is the impression I want to leave with you. The remedy is this. I wish you God's blessings. I wish you God's grace. I don't know what you're going through this morning. I don't know where you are this morning. Remember the church in Philippi was struggling with three main things. They were poverty-stricken, they were a divided church, and they were being persecuted. They didn't your life there, whatever you want. I don't know what kind of broken relationships you might have this morning. What difficult people you have to deal with that you don't want to fellowship with, a job situation as John shared with us this morning, a broken ankle that needs healing, a longing for a child, financial problems, plans that haven't worked together, and goals that you have in life that just don't seem to work together. I have good news for you this morning. I wish you God's blessings to be with your spirit. Whatever you do, whatever you learn, whatever you hear, whenever you are walking, whatever God is teaching you this morning, I have God's words for you. May God's blessings, may His grace be with your spirit and so be it. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your word this morning that encourages us that you are freely given to us yourself and your grace to sustain us through all things. Would you guide us as we walk through life as we seek you in our daily walk with you that you would remind us that you brought us together and that you don't leave us to ourselves, that you strengthen us, that you guide us and lead us through your grace. We pray all this in your holy name. Amen.