Philippians 4:20-23
~15 min read
TRANSCRIPT
It is typical for most New Testament writers to end their epistles with greetings, and here Paul was no exception as he had come to the end of the Book of Philippians. Most people, when they read the last section of the epistles, they will quickly skip through those sections because they think that, "Well, those are just greetings. You read one, you read all; they are all the same." But they fail to realise that the last section of all the epistles is extremely important.
By way of illustration, if an author writes a book, which is a masterpiece, and when he comes to the conclusion, his mind would go back to all the things he had written. He would want his readers not only to appreciate the detail of the narrative but, most importantly, to learn some valuable lessons that they may apply into their lives. So, he will put that in the conclusion. Likewise, for Paul, you can imagine in this last section of Philippians, his thoughts would go back to all the things he had written. And then he would be thinking, "What are the key lessons that I want all my readers to apply? All those people who read this divinely inspired book, including you and me, to learn these key lessons. What are these key lessons?" It was his utmost desire that all the readers would live for the glory of God and to live by God's grace. This is what we want to learn from the conclusion of the Book of Philippians. The title of our message is "Living by Grace and for God's Glory."
I. Living For God’s Glory
Firstly, Paul spoke about “Living For God's Glory”. Let us begin with verse 20: "Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen." The original Greek word for glory is "doxa," from where we get the English word for doxology. Doxology is made up of two words: "doxa" or glory and "logos" or word. So basically, a doxology is a word of glory. It is an outburst of praise and honour. Notice Paul identified the one who was worthy of glory: God and our Father. Take note of the little word "our" as in our Father. The glory of God cannot be done in ignorance. It is impossible to give glory to God unless one knows Him. At the same time, it is impossible for those who know Him not to glorify Him. So, only the believers can and will glorify God.
God is our Father, the first person in the triune God. First and foremost, He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both the Father and the Son share the same glory, honour, deity, and essence. Remember, in the Gospel of John, when Jesus called His Father, the Jews wanted to kill Him. John 5:18 tells us, "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God." When Jesus saves us, you and I are adopted as God's children, and so we are able to cry out, "Abba, Father" by virtue of our Lord Jesus. We are no longer afraid to approach this infinitely awesome God because we are His children. Therefore, Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
How long will the believers glorify God? “For ever and ever”. The literal translation is "to the ages of the ages," which means indefinitely. There will never be a moment whereby glory is not due unto God. A million upon a million years, we will still be glorifying God in Heaven. Amen means truly or let it be. In other words, "Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever." It is amen. It is a true statement. It is the right thing for us to do.
So, Paul was speaking about giving glory to God, and immediately he turned his attention to those people who would actually glorify God. Look at verse 21 and 22. Notice there were four groups of people mentioned here. Firstly, he mentioned the Christians at Philippi. "Salute every saint in Christ Jesus." Salute means greet. Secondly, he mentioned the Christian leaders, people like Timothy and Epaphroditus. "The brethren which are with me greet you." Thirdly, there were the Christians at Rome, which Paul referred to as "All the saints salute you." And finally, there were the Christians who belonged to Caesar's Palace. Paul said, "chiefly” — or especially — “they that are of Caesar's household." Four groups of people.
Remember, when Paul was imprisoned in Rome, he was chained to a Roman imperial guard. There would be different groups of guards assigned to watch him for 24 hours around the clock. Paul took the opportunity to evangelise to the first guard and to the one who replaced the first guard for the second watch and to the one who replaced him for the third watch. So, in time to come, he was able to minister to all the imperial guards. And here the Bible tells us that some of them had believed in the gospel.
By the way, the word saint means holy, separated, or set apart, and by implication, it means to be set apart unto God. If you are a true believer, you are a saint because you have been set apart unto God by virtue of His own only begotten son, Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church has some strange ideas about saints. They believe that the church has the power to canonise a person to be a saint, but the church has no such power. Only God alone has the power to set you apart unto Himself. According to the Roman Catholic teachings, a saint is someone who is dead and is in Heaven. Most of the time, they had been martyred, or they had done many good works during their lifetime, and they must be responsible for at least one confirmed miracle. And then the Roman Catholic Church would canonise that person as a saint. So, they have St. Teresa, St. Nicholas, St. Anthony, St. Anne and so forth, and they were all dead. But here you can see Paul says, "All the saints greet you." You would be foolish to think that Paul was referring to all those dead saints, right? How could the dead saints send greetings? It is impossible. He was simply referring to all those believers who were still alive at that time. They were called saints. So, Paul included all the believers because whether they were at Philippi or at Rome, whether they were Christian leaders or living in Caesar's Palace, they were all saved to glorify God.
Dear friend, what can we learn from here? It does not matter whether you are a young believer or an old believer, whether you are living in Melbourne or elsewhere in this world, we are all saved to glorify God. The chief end of men is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Take a moment and consider our lives as an individual and as a church. How can we not glorify God? As an individual, there was a time when we were walking according to the course of this world. We were walking according to the power of the prince of the air, that is Satan. We were, by nature, children of God's wrath. We could not understand spiritual things, what it means to serve and glorify God. We looked at Christians who went to church. We thought of it as legalism. We looked at Christians who served God as slavery. We looked at Christians who gave of their tithes and offerings as giving taxes to God, like the way people would give income taxes to the authorities. We could not understand.
But by the grace of God, we were made conscious of our sins and the penalty of our sins. “The wages of sin is death”—physical, spiritual, and eternal death. We were brought under conviction, and the Bible revealed to us the only Saviour, Jesus Christ, who came into this world. He lived a perfect life, He suffered, He was crucified, He died on the cross of Calvary, He was buried, but on the third day, He rose again from the dead. For He was the resurrection and the life. By the grace of God, we believe in Him and we embrace Him as our Lord and Saviour. From then onwards, we dedicated our lives to serve and glorify Him. God placed us in a church like Bethel B.P. Church, and through the church, we are taught the doctrines of God, we are nurtured and equipped to serve Him. We are blessed with resources to support the missions in Myanmar and the Philippines. God called us to serve in different ministries, and He gave us the strength and power to do His work—whether it be as a preacher, worship chairman, usher, pianist, D.H.W. facilitator, Sunday school teacher, or in the refreshment team. If all the opportunity and strength and power are from Him, then glory must go to Him, right? Just because someone said some nice words about our services because we have done well, we must not let pride creep into our hearts. We must humble ourselves and never rob God of His glory.
We do not only give God glory when things are running smoothly, when the church is growing, when our children are strong and healthy, when we are gainfully employed. But when tragedy strikes at the heart of our family, when we lose our jobs, when our loved ones are taken away from us, when we are plagued with illnesses of all sorts, can we still give glory to God? If we are not able to, then it goes to show that our giving God glory is only based on the circumstances. When times are good, we praise Him. When times are bad, we murmur and complain. We must never do that. We must always glorify God in all circumstances. If you and I are true believers, then it means that we are elected by God. We are saved by Him, and He called us to be Christians so that we can represent Him on this earth. His glory is reflected in who we are and in what we do as an individual. His glory is reflected in what we do as a body, His body, which is the church. So, whether as an individual or as a church, we must all glorify the Almighty God.
Let us search our hearts and ask ourselves, what have I done that glorifies God? What has my life, my time, my resources, my energy got to do with the glory of God? Is the life I'm living all about myself? Living for pleasures, enjoyment, entertainment, money, worldly ambitions? Am I just living for all these things with no concerns about the glory of God? Thousands and thousands of people profess to believe in God, but their lives have absolutely nothing to do with God's glory. Am I numbered with them? If that is the case, then I have not truly believed in the gospel because the gospel in the Bible is able to transform my life to the glory of God. If I'm not able to do that, perhaps I have not truly believed.
Are you a person who is living your life for the glory of God, or is your life all just about yourself, nothing to do with God's glory? Remember, it is impossible to give glory to God unless one knows who He is. At the same time, it is impossible for those who know God not to glorify Him. All believers can and will glorify God.
II. Living By God’s Grace
Our second point is “Living By God's Grace”. Let us move on to verse 23: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." The only way you and I can live to glorify God is through the sustaining grace of God. Grace is God's unmerited and undeserved favour shown to mankind. First and foremost, we do not deserve anything from God. We do not deserve to be saved, yet God saved us by His grace. But God's work of grace does not stop at our conversion. He continues to sustain us by His grace and this sustaining grace comes to us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Ephesians 2:8-9. Let me read for you Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Oftentimes, people will just stop at verse 9 and they will be thinking, "Well, I'm saved by grace through faith, so heaven is my eternal home. That is so wonderful. That is enough. That's it." But God's salvation does not stop at our justification. He continues to save us through our sanctification, all the way until our glorification. That is why it is important for us to read the next verse, Ephesians 2:10: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
The original Greek word for "workmanship" is very interesting. It is from where we get the English word for "poem." In other words, we are God's works of art. We are His masterpiece. I do not think there is a better description of the believer in all of Scriptures than this. We are His masterpiece. Take a moment and consider this. As believers, you and I are God's masterpiece. Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." The galaxies, the stars, the moon, the solar system, and nature manifest the glory of God. It is a wonderful experience to go to the top of the mountain to see the entire nature from an elevated view. It is a marvellous experience to go beneath the ocean and see the different amazing creatures underwater or to go into space to see the vast universe.
But as wonderful as the universe and nature are, they were never known as God's workmanship. Even the angels were not known as God's workmanship. Only the believers. Do you realise that for the believer to be God's workmanship, it is a far greater work than the parting of the Red Sea? It is even more remarkable than maintaining order in the entire universe. Do you know why? Because for the believer to be saved, it involves God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Our conversion, our salvation, involves God's plan of salvation, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. For the believer to continue to be saved, as in living a sanctified life, do you know what it takes? It involves the power of the Resurrection, as the Apostle Paul previously said in Philippians 3:10, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection." He was referring to living a sanctified life through the power of Christ's Resurrection. Can you see how amazing it is? The phrase "for we are his workmanship" implies that God is still working in us. He's not finished with us yet. As long as we are still alive, He is still doing His transforming work in our lives all the way until our glorification.
Once in a Sunday school, there was a teacher who was frustrated by the behaviour of a little boy in her class. The teacher said to the boy, "Why do you behave like that? Don't you know who made you?" The little boy replied, "God did, but He ain't through with me yet." In other words, He's not finished with me yet. How true, right? God is still doing His transforming work in each and every one of our lives as believers. So, God has saved us, transformed us as new creatures in Christ Jesus, but for what purpose? So that we may perform good works, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Good works are the things we do by faith and in Jesus' name and for His glory. It is not sometimes salvation results in good works; salvation always results in good work. If there's genuine salvation, then that life is transformed, and there will be good works that follow after. We are justified on the basis of faith alone but the faith that justifies us is never alone because there will be good works that come along with it.
The believer is God's workmanship, His masterpiece. But how do we know that God is working in our lives? Well, through good works. They are the evidence of our salvation. Good works cannot save us; however, they are the fruits of our salvation. Our good works are for God's glory. It is something that God has already ordained. The Bible tells us, "which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." To ordain means to prepare beforehand. God has prepared beforehand to save us. He has also prepared beforehand for us to live a life that we may produce good works.
Dear friend, if you are a true believer, you know Jesus Christ personally and intimately. You know the great Shepherd of the sheep. And it is inevitable that there will be good works that will manifest out of your life. Even in things that we think are insignificant, but if we do it by faith, we do it in Jesus' name and for His glory. It is good work. In the eyes of the Almighty God it is good work because it glorifies Him.
Once a famous actor was invited to be the guest of honour at a gathering, and he received many requests to recite popular quotes from various literatures and writings. Then he was asked to recite the 23rd psalm. There was also an old preacher who happened to be there. The actor agreed on the condition that the preacher would also recite it. The actor read the psalm so beautifully, it was executed to the point of perfection, for which the crowd applauded for a long time. Then it was the old preacher's turn to recite the psalm. His voice was rough and broken from many years of preaching. His diction was anything but polished. But when it was finished, the people were moved to tears.
When someone asked the actor, “What was the difference? What actually made the difference?” He replied, "I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd." You may think that whatever you do or say is so weak, so small, so insignificant. But if you know the great Shepherd of the sheep personally and you do it in His name, you do it for His glory, He will bless you bountifully. It is a good work.
Ever since when I became a Christian, I love to attend Thanksgiving services. I'm always amazed by the testimonies. A couple might give thanks for a child soon to be born after doctors had repeatedly told them it was impossible for them to have a child. As they recounted the blessings, and another couple may be stirred up with this deep and painful emotion because no miracle child has come to them after many, many years of their marriage. Yet another couple might have lost their only child. A sister might give thanks that her husband had been healed from an illness. Another sister might give thanks for the strength that she has received to cope with the passing away of her husband.
All very different circumstances, yet all of them gave thanks. How was that possible? By God's sustaining grace. We need God's sustaining grace every day of our lives. Dear friend, this is how you and I should live our lives. We live for the glory of God, the one who has saved us, the one who has strengthened us. And we live by the grace of God. He who has saved us continues to strengthen us so that you and I can produce good works for His glory.
Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for enabling us to consider these four verses, the last section of the Book of Philippians. Thou has been with us in our series of studies in this book. Thou has blessed us with many spiritual lessons. And even as we come to this last section, we learn from the Apostle Paul how we ought to live our lives. Indeed, people may just glance through or even skip the last section of the epistles, but they are all extremely important. For if there are any key lessons for the Apostle Paul to emphasise when he comes to the conclusion, his utmost desire through Thy inspiration is for all the readers, including all of us here this morning, to live for the glory of God and to live by God's grace.
Thou has reminded us that this is how we should live our lives, O Lord. If our lives have nothing to do with Thy glory, if we have been always living only for ourselves, living for the things of this world, this morning, convict our hearts and draw us nigh unto Thee so that as we inch forward, we want to live each moment of our lives always considering Thee, that we will live with Thy glory in view, that we will put our trust in Thy grace because Thou who has saved us will continue to sustain us all the way until our glorification. And the purpose is for us to produce good works. This is something that Thou has ordained and prepared beforehand. We want to obey, so help us that we will live such a life by Thy grace and to Thy glory. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
THE BOOK OF PHILIPPIANSThe Church at PhilippiThe Church at PhilippiPhilippians 1:1-2
The Joy of A Spirit-Filled Life (Part 1)The Joy of A Spirit-Filled Life (Part 1)Philippians 1:3-5
Elements of True JoyElements of True JoyPhilippians 1:3-6
The Joy of a Spirit-filled Life (Part 2)The Joy of a Spirit-filled Life (Part 2)Philippians 1:6
What are the Things Most Important to Us?What are the Things Most Important to Us?Philippians 1:7-8
Growing in GodlinessGrowing in GodlinessPhilippians 1:9-11
Message 5: Praying for the ChurchMessage 5: Praying for the ChurchPhilippians 1:9-11
Growing in GodlinessGrowing in GodlinessPhilippians 1:9-11
Are All Things Really Working For Good?Are All Things Really Working For Good?Philippians 1:12-14
In Times of AdversityIn Times of AdversityPhilippians 1:12-18
Trouble in the ChurchTrouble in the ChurchPhilippians 1:15-18
For to Me to Live is Christ, to Die is GainFor to Me to Live is Christ, to Die is GainPhilippians 1:19-26
To Live is ChristTo Live is ChristPhilippians 1:19-26
Living Worthy of the GospelLiving Worthy of the GospelPhilippians 1:27-30
Live your life worthy of the GospelLive your life worthy of the GospelPhilippians 1:27-30
The Motivation for Spiritual Unity (Part 1)The Motivation for Spiritual Unity (Part 1)Philippians 2:1-2
Let's Have FellowshipLet's Have FellowshipPhilippians 2:1-4
Essential Principles of Spiritual Unity (Part 2)Essential Principles of Spiritual Unity (Part 2)Philippians 2:3-4
The Ultimate ExampleThe Ultimate ExamplePhilippians 2:5-8
The Ultimate ExampleThe Ultimate ExamplePhilippians 2:5-11
What Is Christmas?What Is Christmas?Philippians 2:6-11
The Greatest NameThe Greatest NamePhilippians 2:9-11
Living a Sanctified LifeLiving a Sanctified LifePhilippians 2:12-13
Work Out Your Own SalvationWork Out Your Own SalvationPhilippians 2:12-18
Moving Forward Not BackwardMoving Forward Not BackwardPhilippians 2:13-14
Stop Murmuring and ComplainingStop Murmuring and ComplainingPhilippians 2:14-16
The Exemplary Example of a Spiritual Servant: PaulThe Exemplary Example of a Spiritual Servant: PaulPhilippians 2:17-18
The Exemplary Example of a Spiritual Servant: TimothyThe Exemplary Example of a Spiritual Servant: TimothyPhilippians 2:19-24
The Importance of Spiritual DiscernmentThe Importance of Spiritual DiscernmentPhilippians 3:1-2
True Believers Worship God in Spirit and in TruthTrue Believers Worship God in Spirit and in TruthPhilippians 3:3, John 4:4-30
Nothing to Boast OfNothing to Boast OfPhilippians 3:3-6
What Is Gain To Me Is LossWhat Is Gain To Me Is LossPhilippians 3:7-9
The Power of Christ's ResurrectionThe Power of Christ's ResurrectionPhilippians 3:10-11
What are Your Spiritual Goals?What are Your Spiritual Goals?Philippians 3:10-11
Pressing Toward The MarkPressing Toward The MarkPhilippians 3:12-14
Pressing Toward the MarkPressing Toward the MarkPhilippians 3:13-14
Morning Devotion 2: God’s High Calling for YouMorning Devotion 2: God’s High Calling for YouPhilippians 3:13-14
How to Know the Will of GodHow to Know the Will of GodPhilippians 3:15
Who Are You Following?Who Are You Following?Philippians 3:16-19
Heavenly Or Earthly MindedHeavenly Or Earthly MindedPhilippians 3:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57
How Do You Stand Fast?How Do You Stand Fast?Philippians 4:1
How to Maintain Christian UnityHow to Maintain Christian UnityPhilippians 4:2-3
Having Peace in Times of Trouble [Part 1]Having Peace in Times of Trouble [Part 1]Philippians 4:4-7
The Cure for AnxietyThe Cure for AnxietyPhilippians 4:6-7
Message 6: Praying for the TroubledMessage 6: Praying for the TroubledPhilippians 4:6-7
Having Peace in Times of Trouble [Part 2]Having Peace in Times of Trouble [Part 2]Philippians 4:8-9
Learning To Be Content [Part 1]Learning To Be Content [Part 1]Philippians 4:10-12
How To Be An Overcoming ChristianHow To Be An Overcoming ChristianPhilippians 4:13
Learning To Be Content [Part 2]Learning To Be Content [Part 2]Philippians 4:13-19
My God Shall Supply All Your NeedsMy God Shall Supply All Your NeedsPhilippians 4:19
Living By Grace and For God's GloryLiving By Grace and For God's GloryPhilippians 4:20-23
