Dudley, Alfred: The Ideal Christian

Those boys and girls below. I'm very drawn to the boys and girls. I had twenty five years as superintendent of a large Sunday school in Southern Africa, and I was tempted to go downstairs with them, and I thought, well, what about the preacher upstairs here? Anyhow, I'm very happy to be up here, but I must confess my heart went downstairs for those boys and girls. I would love to have gone down there and spent a half an hour speaking the word of the Lord to them and telling them some African stories and filling their hearts and presenting the gospel to them. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he recommissioned Peter, you know, he said, first of all, feed my lamb. And after he said, feed my lambs, then he said, feed my sheep. So they have precedence over us. Be there as it may, he also said, tend my sheep. So we're really happy to be here this morning in the ministry of the Word of God. Well, should we turn for our reading to the book of Philippians, Paul's letter to Philippi. Paul's epistle to the Philippians, chapter one. We're going to read just a few verses way through the epistle. The first chapter of Paul's letter to the Philippians, and reading at verse twenty. Chapter one and verse twenty. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Down at verse twenty six: That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Christ Jesus, in Jesus Christ, for me by my coming to you again. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be ab- absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Chapter two, please, and verse five. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not a- thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Now, chapter three please, and verse twenty. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his body, his glorious body, according to the working whereby he's able even to subdue all things unto himself. Now finally, chapter four and verse four: Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Down at verse twelve: I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I'm instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheth me. The Lord will bless to our hearts this portion of his word. The subject I have in mind, dear brethren and sisters and friends, is the subject of the ideal Christian, as set forth by Paul in his letter to the Philippians, or resurrection life in Christ, or the secret of successful Christian living, or alternately, the victorious life in Christ. So if you forget everything else and you remember the headings, I'm sure they'll be a blessing to you. May I repeat them? The ideal Christian, resurrection life in Christ, the secret of successful Christian living, or the victorious life in Christ. But before we go on to the subject matter of the content of Paul's letter along that line, may I digress for a moment into a period of what I call an evangelical interlude? Because in the audience here this morning, I believe there may be some of the Christian life. And let me say to you that this is the most wonderful experience that anybody can have is to enter into the experience of the life of Christ through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. There is nothing more wonderful than the experience of Christian conversion. Now, I'm not going to dig- digress into the subject of Christian conversion, because that is my subject as advertised this evening. And if I go along that line, well, you'll have it all in the morning, you won't come back tonight. But the subject this evening is a subject of Christian conversion. And I'm very happy to speak along this line, because I must allow me to say, I, I am not trained in a theological seminary, nor have I got the college of the conge- collegiate hall. As our brother Budge mentioned, I am a retired businessman, and the college of my career was the business college of life. I began as the office boy, and I ended up as the managing director. And that's a little bit for you. And my education, from the bottom rung to the very top, was the business college of life, and I rubbed shoulders of men at every strata of society. And friend, I'm saved, I prove that the greatest experience of any person is to experience the power of the, of Christ, the living union of Christ in experience in the life of an individual. H. C. Mould, this great expositor to the Word of God, puts it very tersely, and he speaks about the living power of a realized union with the Lord. Now, it's a beautiful expression. When I read it, I picked it up and made a note of it. And H. G. Mole, this great exposit to the Word of God, he speaks, may I repeat, of the living power of a realized union with the Lord. That is the answer to it all. And so, my dear friend, I'd like to ask you five questions in this van- evangelical interlude, and by the help of God, answer it as we pass through. The first vital question is, is there any real meaning in life? The second thing is, is there any sure direction in life? The fourth thing is, is there any safe deliverance from judgment to come? And in conclusion, in sure, how can I live a life of true meaningfulness, satisfaction, purposefulness here, and have the assurance of life and after? And the Bible, the Bible alone, has got the answer. I wonder if I could take the opportunity of restating those questions. Forgive my monotony and re- repetition. Is there any real meaning in life? Is there any lasting satisfaction in life? Is there any sure foundation in life? Is there any safe deliverance from judgment to come? In short, how can I live a life of true meaningfulness, satisfaction, purposefulness here, and have the assurance in the hereafter? And the Bible gives the answer, and the answer is found in none other than the Lord Jesus Christ alone. In John seventeen, the Lord Jesus Christ, at the end of the great feast where many had come seeking satisfaction in the ceremony and ritual of the Jewish observances, the last day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Out of his inward part shall flow rivers of living water. What was the Lord Jesus saying? He was saying, if any of you have come and you're not satisfied, you've not found that for where- wherefore you've come, you've not found satisfaction in life. If any man thirst, your desires have not been fulfilled. You're not satisfied. If any man thirst, then come unto me and drink. And friend, I would repeat that to you this morning. If you're thirsting for satisfaction, if your desires are unfulfilled as far as your life is concerned, here is the answer. In Christ and in Christ alone can this be found? Of course, if you turn to the philosophers of this world, they will give you another answer. The philosophers of this world will tell you that there's no real meaning in li- in life. There's no real purpose in life. There are no real standards in life apart from what you yourself create, from what you yourself set, the standards you make, and that is your, that are your guidelines for life. But apart from anything else, there's no true meaning in life. There's no true purpose in life. You have to create these things for yourself. What utter rubbish. The great Saint Augustine, the saint of God of the early patriarchal period, he confessed, he said, oh God, thou hast created my soul for thee, and I am only satisfied when I rest in thee. You see, God has not created man an independent being. God has created you and I dependent beings, and we can only find true rest, true joy, true peace, and true satisfaction in and through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And so we are shut up exclusively to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only one who can give us true direction and true meaningfulness and true purposefulness in life. Where in Africa, I was speaking to a, a very learned gentleman. The titles behind his name were not a few. He was a MSc, and he was a BEd, and he was a PhD, and I don't know what all he was. And we got to grips on the Christian concept. And I said, my friend, the Bible says, except a man be born again, he shall not see nor enter the kingdom of God. And I said, the Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And then in his pensive mood, he paused. And he said, Mr. Dudley, I want to ask you a question. I said, go ahead. He said, you know, the composition of the religions of the world are such. There are so many professing the Christian faith, there are so many professing Confucianism. There's so many professing Hinduism. There's so many professing Hinduism, and he said so many professing Mohammedism. And Mohammedism, he said, have the most adherents of the world's religion today, numbering something like four hundred million. And the Christian faith, two hundred odd million. He said on the basis of logical reason and on the basis of common sense, he said, tell me, can four hundred million Muslims be wrong and two hundred odd Christians be right? I said, my friend, we're not working on the basis of human reasoning or human logic. We're working on the basis of divine revelation. The Bible says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And the Lord Jesus Christ said, there are two ways, the broad way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. And so the basis of the Lord's proportion, the few may be those who adhere to the Christian faith that are on the right road that leads to life in comparison to the broad way and they who lead down to destruction. My friends, in conclusion to this evangelical interlude, may I say the answer to these five questions is that these things can only be found in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and triumphant resurrection. Assuming you accept that, and I trust you will, and you'll never regret it. I preached the gospel through many nations and through many countries and over many years, and I've had the happy joy of leading many to the Savior and speaking to them after. But I've never yet found one person of any race, of any country, say to me after, Mr. Dudley, I'm sorry that I accepted the message you preached. I've never found it, but I found the contrary. I found people saying, Mr. Tubbly, I'm sorry I didn't trust the Savior earlier. I regret that I didn't trust him in my youth, and I didn't trust if I regret that I didn't trust him early in my life, but never have I found a person who's entered into a realized union with the living Christ say, I am sorry, I've never found it, and I don't think I will ever find it ag- find it at all. Beloved, this is the most wonderful thing that ever a person can experience. It is the greatest miracle conceivable, the greatest wonder possible that we can enter into Christ. And to use the phraseology of Paul, he says, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Isn't it wonderful? I come from a land, you know, where, uh, I mustn't tell you too much about South Africa. My wife says the people will think you like the Americans. Everything is bigger and better. But I want to tell you something about South Africa. In South Africa, hospitalization and medicine is become almost an ob- almost an obsession. And of course, you know, they're trying all sorts of things in South Africa, with all heart transplants and uh, and lung transplants and kidney transplants, and I only hope they don't get to forage to try a head transplant, because they'd be tragic. But you know, they're trying uh, piggy hearts, they put another heart on top of the old heart, and they call it a kind of twin ignition. They give you a twin carburation. The one doesn't spark, the other one sparks. So there are people walking about with two hearts, a twin ignition system. I think they must copy the Ford, uh, motor company in America with their twin system. And sometimes they've been trying to put chimpanzees hearts in people. They've tried it, you know. But of course, the body rejects it on the principle of physics. That's animal or human. But you see, they try all these things, but when God brings man into the spiritual blessing of salvation, he doesn't give to a man a transplant of an organ. He gives to a man a whole new being. Isn't that wonderful? Can we conceive it? If any man being Christ, he's a new creation, not a transplant of an organ. Old things are passed away. All things have become new. I think we are too stupid to understand it. It's too wonderful. This is the wonder of the grace of God, my friends. Let me say, in answer to my five posing questions, only in Christ is there true meaning. Only in Christ is there true purpose. Only in Christ is there true satisfaction. Only in Christ is there true direction. Only in Christ is there true deliverance. Only in Christ can I find assurance in the after as I pass through the inevitable that must come in the life and experience of every man. As I pass through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord's promises, I will never leave thee, I will be with thee. And here we find true safety, security, and salvation. The Lord bless your trust. You believe in the Savior and join the hosts that are going to glory one day. But now we come to the ideal Christian. And Paul sets forth here in the life of the ideal Christian, or the secret of the, of the successful Christian life, he sets forth four principles. In chapter one, the passage we read, he sets for before us Christ the believer's life, and he says, for me to live is Christ that I go. Then in chapter two he sets forth Christ the believer's mind, and he says, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, and so on. We say something about their presence there. Then in chapter three he speaks about the believer's goal, and in verse twenty he says, for our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he's able even to subdue all things unto himself. And then fourthly, he goes on to the Christ the believer's strength in verse thirteen of chapter four. And he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Oh, I'm ready for all things through Christ that strengthen me. Or I'm able for all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. And there he expresses Christ the believer's strength. May I repeat it? Christ the believer's life. Christ the believer's mind. Christ the believer's goal. Christ the believer's strength. May we may use another term for Paul's fourfold maxim or slogan or concept of life. He speaks about living for Christ. Then he speaks about learning of Christ. Does mine be in you, which is also in Christ either? Then he speaks about looking for Christ. For whence we look for the Savior, the changer of our body. Then he speaks about laboring for Christ. I can do all things through Christ that strengthen me. And in these four principles, we find the secret of successful Christian living. Then as we come to chapter three in verse thirteen. Paul sits before us as he sums up these four principles. And in verse thirteen he says, I count not myself to have apprehended. Paul was no bragger. Paul was no boastful professor. He says, I count not myself to have apprehended, and here he indulges in what we may call self-evaluation. But he says, but this one thing I do, this is self-simplification, is one thing I do, forgetting the things that are behind, there is cancellation of all his failures and faults of the past, and he says, and reaching under those things which are before, in aspiration, he says, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and there he reaches on to what we may call Christian consumma- consummation or anticipation. And Paul there spells out the secret of successful Christian living, or living above the problem, the perplexity, the emergency, the incident, the trial, the trouble, the tribulation of human life and experience. The Christian has the potential, the Christian has the power, the Christian has the enabling to live above the prevailing problems and circumstances of life. Some years ago, we were down in the, in the States, and we were privileged to attend a breakfast, invited, we were invited to attend a breakfast with Billy Graham and his team in the Conrad Hilton in Chicago, Michigan Avenue, Chicago. I never forget the hotel. I, when I walked in, I said, my, this is a big place. I said, "Three thousand bedrooms, what a place. Anyhow, I wasn't sure whether it was at the breakfast the morning or at the crusade where we were invited, that a brother was reiterating and bemoaning and murmuring his lot. And he was saying, you know, the circumstances of my life, the difficulties that I encounter, and all the problems that I have to contend with, oh, what could I do under all these circumstances? And one of the brethren of the thief said, my dear brother, as a Christian, what are you doing underneath them? You should be on top of them. If you call yourself a Christian. Of course we mustn't live under our circumstances. We must live above them. Because the enabling grace of God is there. If we're living for Christ, and we're learning of Christ, and we're looking for Christ, and we're laboring for Christ, we can say with Paul, I can do all things. I'm ready for all things through Christ. That's great. The Christian has the secret of success, of victory, of triumph in every exigency, in every emergency of life. May I tell you a little story? You promise me you won't laugh. A little girl was, uh, got into disfavor with her mother over something or other. And her mother said, Mary, you shall go upstairs, and you shall not come down to tea when daddy comes home. Up you go. Little Mary, of course, was very dismayed at the punishment. She'd rather get a beating, of course. But you'll go upstairs when Daddy comes home, you'll not come out. She was Daddy's pet, of course. And yes, she waited and waited and waited all afternoon for Daddy to come. Eventually, she heard Daddy's footsteps coming up the pathway, Daddy entering in, and Daddy greeting Mother, all the rest. And there she stood. Oh dear, what punishment, privation, loneliness. And then as daddy came in, first thing he said, where's Mary? Oh, she said, Mary has displeased me, and she's not coming down to tea. I've said she must stay upstairs. Oh, she daddy, he was equally sad about the thing as well. Daddies, you know, got a very soft spot for their girls, their little daughters, haven't they? They kind of get under your skin, don't they? And of course, daddy was very quiet. He didn't want to upset Mother, and he didn't want to upset the whole episode, because he had to live there for the evening as well. In fact, he put him upstairs too. So he kept quiet. And the table was set, and they sat down to tea with us? No, no, no. Mother was very fast. Oh, Mother, please. Can you, can I not prevail upon you? What did she do that displeased you? I said she must stay upstairs, and she's going to stay upstairs. Oh, please, mommy, let her come down. Well, on one condition she can come down, she sit at a separate table and not sit at the main table for us to supper. Okay. A little concession is better than nothing at all. And so the voice cried, Mary, come down. And oh, Mary was waiting at top of the stairs, and she ran down, almost fell down the stairs. She came down and sat at her own table. And then mother said, now, Mary, you sit over there, and you will have your supper separately to ours, and we will have supper here. You will give thanks, and we will give thanks, and you give thanks first of all, and then we'll give thanks. Little Mary. Oh, what a day. She folded little hands, closed little eyes, and said, Lord Jesus, I thank thee that you have spread a table before thee in the presence of my enemies. Needless to say, she was invited to the main table. No enemies in the town. But you see, the principle is, although she was in the situation, she was able to overcome it. Not by sulking, not by murmuring, not by grumbling, but by living in the spirit of the overcoming life. And so, in this, in this passage here, that Paul sets before us, we have the secret of successful Christian living. And when Paul says, for me to live is Christ, it gives to us the beautiful example of how we may attain that which is set before us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, you may take the politician. And as far as the politician's life is concerned, the politician's life is politics. The sportsman's life is sport. The business- the business- businessman's life is business. And even as that is so in these various aspects of life, so the Christian's life should be Christ, and every other interest should be subservient to him as law. The whole attitude of our life should be Christocentric and not egocentric, and the theology of the Christians, the the theology of the Christian's life should be Christology, and then we lead on to success as far as the Christian is concerned. And so Paul sets before us how we can attain to victory in the Christian life, attaining, first of all, triumph over the circumstances of human life, as I explained. Then the second thing he explains, how we may obtain joy. And this is something which is a very precious quality in the life of the child of God. Then he goes in to explain how we may attain to peace. And then finally, by the help of God, we'd like to deal with the third quality of unity in the example set before us of Paul in the second chapter, in the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the great Count Zinzendorf, who attained more than any man possibly in the in se- eighteenth century, was a man who was characterized like Paul, and it is said that the passion of his life, this is Count Zinzendorf of Hernept in Moravia, the head of the Moravian mission that sent out missionaries to the four corners of the earth during the eighteenth century. This great Moravian whom God raised up and used so mightily. And the maximum, the slogan, and the passion of his life was Jesus and Jesus only, and hence the success, hence the blessing which was accomplished in his life. And so, my dear brother, my dear sister, if you would know victory in the Christian life, you must get your principles right, you must get your priorities in order, you must get your perspective straight. The Lord Jesus Christ must take precedence in your life, and you must say like Paul, for me, to live is Christ. And having said that, follow through. And then he says, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. And then he goes on to show the beautiful example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Following on in this pathway, he speaks about joy in this chapter. He speaks about thankfulness on the part of the child of God, and he says, I've learned both to be instructed to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer, suffer need. And then from the Roman jail, he says, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. But this is really strange. For a man like Paul to write from the privation and discomfort of a Roman jail. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. You say, well, he must have been a a a little bit off his rocker. He must have gone minko. Fancy men suffering in a cold, dark, dead jail of a Roman prison and writing, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. And then going to say, I am, I am thankful to the Lord for every situation, for every circumstance of my life. I've learned whatsoever state I am, that I was to be content. Then he goes on to say, do all things without murmurings and disputings. Murmuring is against God as far as the vertical is concerned, and disputings among men as far as the horizontal aspect of my life is concerned. It is just so strange. But how does the, how are these things accomplished? Well, I do believe they're accomplished through the power, or the living power of this realized union with the law. And to come back to our text, I'm ready for all things through Christ that strengtheneth me. This is the wonderer. And as Paul took up his pen and wrote to the believers at Thessalonica, writing in the same strain, he said, giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I can do all things through Christ that strengthen me. Remember, I'm speaking to you of the ideal Christian and the possibilities which lie ahead as far as you and I are concerned, dear brother, dear sister, and that which was at Paul's disposal is at your and mine, my disposal in the year nineteen hundred and seventy nine in the city of Vancouver in Canada. It is there for yours, your thinking, as we mentioned the other day. God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that he, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work. May I illustrate this point and help you to understand it? Paul Rees for down in the States told this incident at the Kesey Conference in Cumberland in England one year, one year. He was telling how that a brother went to a service, and the preacher's text was this text in one Thessalonians. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And the brother left the meeting, and he said, well, well, well, that is a wonderful text. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Boy, oh boy, he said, that just covers everything in my life for all time, and I'll need nothing else. That's going to be my favorite text. Let me repeat it. In everything he thinks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Boy, that's my text. And as he walked out of the meeting, he repeated the text in his mind, re-accurated and re-accurated. He said, this is my text. And on the way home, he had to get on a bus, traveling some thirty miles on a hot summer afternoon, and he got on the bus, he thought, well, I got plenty time over these twenty or thirty miles to think of my text and rejoice chewing the cud of the biblical text today. In everything give thanks, and this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. But the bus had not gone very far when it stopped, and on got the bus together with some other passengers, a lady with some children. And this lady was what we call in South Africa an XOS, XOS, XOS, XOS. You know what I mean? And she got down and she sat right down next to him with the two children and crushed him right in the seat. And he thought of his text. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Boy, oh boy. And the further the bus went, and the longer they took, the more heat was generated, and the more she overspilled on top of him. And his text came ringing back in his ears. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Anyhow, he thought of the text, and he thought of his slim wife at home, and he thought of his circumstances, and he thought, this is it. And he closed his eyes, he said, Lord, I thank thee, she's not my wife that I put up with all my life, she's only here, she's only in the bus on the journey. So he had something to thank God for, that he had to put up with it all his life, only on the journey home. But you see, he learned on that experience of rejoicing in Christ, in the circumstances, in the conditions that prevail as far as life was concerned, so he knew the joy of the Lord, which became his strength in the situation that lie before. But now I say the second thing that he learned, apart from strength and joy, Paul learned something about the peace of God. And this is also something strange of a man lying in a Roman jail. One would think he would be filled with agi- agitation and distress and all sorts of depression of mind. But he took his pen in the last chapter before he closes, he says to the saints, let your moderation or your yieldedness or your submission be known unto all men. The Lord is at your side. Or another version says, the Lord is at your elbow. So here still. And he says, be careful for nothing, or may I call it the revised version, in nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The peace of God that passeth all understanding. And there in the sublimity, there in the serenity, there in the composure of that jail, Paul could say, the peace of God, which is better, that is the true sense, better than understanding. You know, we want to understand, don't we? We always want to know the reason why. We say to the Lord, Lord, why? Lord, why have I to go through this? Lord, why am I called upon to suffer like this? Lord, why are the circumstances of my life like this? Lord, why? But let us never forget that the leave the Lord upon the cross said why. The great question of the ages, why do the godly suffer, is a question that is unanswered in the side of eternity. But Paul here writing to the saints, he says, in nothing be anxious. First the negative. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known. Tell God all about it. That's right. Tell him all about it. Tell him about the difficulty. Tell him about the trials. Tell him how you feel. Just bear your heart before him. Tell him all, tell him all the, all the truth. And then the promises and the peace of God, which is better or supersedes understanding, shall garish in your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Isn't it wonderful? And the other morning we were going through this promise, we were going through the promises of God, divine power, divine love, divine joy, divine providence, divine preservation, divine pure, all the promises of God we're going through. And we were going through the promise of divine peace at the ber- at the supper table. And I was saying where in England, a request was made to the artist to depict on canvas a picture that would describe Cry peace. peace. And of course, the artists were very artistic in England, set out, set about. Some went here and some went there, some went the other places, but the two outstanding of all the artists depicting the picture of peace, one went up into Cumberland District in the Lake District of England near Keswick. And there on the hills of Cumberland, those who've been there, you know about it, the beautiful hills of the Lake District and the lakes in between, and the flocks of sheep on the hills and the trees, a most peaceful atmosphere. He described it on canvas, the hills and the sheep and the trees and the lake like a mole palm. And whichever way you looked at the picture, you could turn it upside down, the reflection was so beautiful in the peaceful waters. You could turn it any way you like. It was a description of peace. And the artist project- presented it for appraisal. And they looked at it, the judges did, they said, beautiful. Another artist went to the south of England near Land's End, to the rocky coast of the south of England in the stormy, turbulent waters of the southern coast of Africa, uh, of England. And there, clustering beneath the rocky coast of England, he saw a bird sitting on the nest in perfect composure, wet and peaceful, amongst the turbulent waters all around. And he described it on the canvas. And he presented it. They came up for the judging. Peace amidst peaceful surroundings. Peace amidst storm. And who got the first prize? The latter. Peace amongst the turbulence of the sea all around it, and the bird enjoying peace and quiet, composure, as we have in Isaiah twenty six four, Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Dear brother, dear sister, are we resting in the Lord? Do we know the peace of God which passeth all understanding? You won't need so many tranquilizers, you know, to go to sleep if you've got the peace of God in your heart. This is the only and the best antidote to all the distresses, to all the agitation, to all the neurotic conditions of human life prevailing in this year nineteen hundred and seventy nine. And people so worried about what is going to happen as far as the world is concerned. Is some idiot going to press the wrong button and the whole world go up in a conflagration and civilization to be destroyed because of the stockpiling of the nuclear weapons from one end of the earth to the other. What is going to happen in the crazy world? What is going to happen to the children that we are bringing into the world today? My dear friend, here is the answer. In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication. Let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth understanding shall garrison your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. I can do all things through Christ Jesus and endure through Christ Jesus. As far as salvation is concerned, as far as successful Christian living is concerned, it's through Christ Jesus. Way about hundred-odd odd years ago, in Chicago, there was a man called Horatio Spafford. He was a, a lawyer, a Christian lawyer associated with D. L. Moody. And him and his wife, Horatio Spafford and his wife, were wealthy people in Chicago. And during the Great Fire of Chicago, they opened up their palatial home to those who were destitute because of the Great Fire. And they virtually burnt themselves out, showing hospitality and kindness to these who were derelict and homeless. And they'd rather have done things that afterwards it was suggested that they go to Europe for arrest. Horatius Spafford had placed his wealth at the disposal of the poor and needy, and his wife had burnt herself out with showing hospitality. They were friends with Dale Moody and helped Moody much in the ministry of the gospel in Chicago. But Horatius Spafford was so ob- absorbed in business that he couldn't go to Europe at the time, so he said to his wife, he said, dear, you go with our three daughters, and you go across, and I will follow you on to France and then on to England, and we'll enjoy a holiday together. Well, they booked by ship steamer in those days, and Mrs. Stafford and the three daughters went across the Atlantic. And as they arrived, as they got to the middle of the Atlantic, a tragedy happened. The ship struck an iceberg. Calamity followed. And the three daughters of Horatius Pafford were buried in a watery grave. Mrs. Pafford was saved alone. Another ship came to the rescue and took Mrs. Pafford over to to France. She sent a message back to her husband in Chicago. Ju- just a brief message on a telegram. Saved alone. Tortoises had gone to glory. Oh, Mrs. Pafford. My three darlings. With haste, he made his way across the Atlantic. There were no airplanes hundred years ago, and he made his way across. And as they crossed in the midst of the Atlantic, the captain called Mr. Spafford aside. He said, Mr. Spafford, may I tell you that upon this spot, according to the compass, your three daughters die. Oh, he said, thank you. He went into his cabin, took out his pen, and he wrote that beautiful hymn. When peace like a river appendeth my way, when sorrow like sea billows roll, whatever my lot there was taught me to know, it is well, it is well with my soul. And Horatius prophet knew peace in the prevailing circumstance of sorrow and loss as far as his three darling daughters were concerned. And so Paul experienced, Paul gives to us the potential for the secret of successful Christian living as far as joy, as far as peace, now finally, as far as unity is concerned in the assembly of God's people in association with his saints. Is that clock right, brother? What time do you stop? What time do you be now? All right, Mark. You know, in Africa, we don't look at the clock, we look at the sun, you see. And there's no sun in Vancouver, cloudy day. I've got an if- I've got an excuse, but I hurry on, I just go. In chapter two, Paul speaks about, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. As you said, Christ the believer's life, Christ the believer's mind, Christ believer's goal, Christ the believer's strength. But he sets before them a very, very beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and the secret of unity in the saints. And he wrote this epistle, of course, because of disunity and troubles in the saints at Philippi. So we believe, because he mentions two sisters that had a bit of a quarrel between them, and they were not composed, and other problems apparently that had arisen. And then he said that he stands fast with one mind, with one heart, striving together for the faith of the gospel. And he presents the beautiful portrayal of the person of Christ in his condescension and in his grace. And may I say, dear brother, dear sister, by way of preface, never, shall I repeat it? Never, never, never do anything that will disunite God's people. You'll live to regret it. Did you hear that? Never do anything that would tend to disu- disunite or breach the unity of God's people, you'll live to regret it. The Lord Jesus Christ said, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace, and he says, let this mind be in you which also in Christ Jesus. He, being in the form of God, thought he not a thing to be grasped to equality with God, made himself of no reputation, and he showed, first of all, the deity of the Lord Jesus, dignity of person, dignity of station, his self-humiliation, and then the exaltation bestowed. The deity of the Lord Jesus, being in the form of God, humbled himself, made himself of no account, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Self-humiliation. And then the exaltation bestowed, wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And Paul goes higher and higher and higher and shows the exalt- exaltation of the Lord Jesus to the very pinnacle of glory. Now he says, let this mind be in you. He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that exalted himself like Satan in Isaiah fourteen shall be humbled. And so the secret of successful Christian living is I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me, giving to us strength, giving to us joy, giving to us peace, giving to us the necessary, the necessary enabling to walk in humility, in unity, and in the fear of the Lord. And so, in conclusion, let me say, here are the four principles of the successful Christian living, Christian life. Living for Christ, learning of Christ, looking for Christ, and laboring for Christ. Paul's maxim is, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. May God bless his word to our hearts for his name's sake, shall we pray? Our Father, we do thank thee for our consideration of thy holy word, and pray thy blessing upon that which is of thyself that shall be for thy glory. We thank thee though that thou hast placed within our hands thy holy word and these very principles by which we are enabled to fulfill the divine commands for thy biddings or enablings by the grace of God. For thou art able to make all grace abound toward us, that we, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work. And so, Lord, we thank thee and pray that thou will help us to say like Paul, I'm ready, I'm able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And so, Lord, help us to resign from ourselves, that the power of Christ may rest upon us, and that we might know victorious Christian living to the glory of God and for our own blessing and good as a testimony to thy name. Bless thy word, and undertake for us further this day, as we ask all, and return thee thanks in the name of thy son, thy well-beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Sorry to keep you over the top. Forgive me, pardon me.