I was supposed to be here last year and then I had some health problems and had to go home. I'm thankful to say I'm feeling quite a bit better and it's good to be here with you now. I trust that the Lord is going to bless our meditations on His precious words. It's always a privilege to open the Word of God together. And I would like to read with you this evening from the first chapter of Philippians, Philippians chapter one. And we'll read. few verses there. First of all, Philippians chapter one and verse three. Philippians one and verse three. 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 has begun a good work in you will perform it or complete it in the day of Jesus Christ. And then verse twelve. But I would you should understand, brethren, that the things which happen unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places, and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. And then verse twenty-seven. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that he stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. One of the popular songs of a bygone day, if not of this day, is that one, give me a home where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play, where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the clouds are, the skies are not cloudy all day. And I was thinking about that a little bit, and the fact that we live in a world where there's very much to discourage us, And it's refreshing to turn to the word of God and to get an encouraging word. But everything else around us is going wrong. It's a good thing to look up and to realize that the Lord is on the throne. And like David of old, of whom we read it, he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. And so I thought tonight we would look at this passage in Philippians chapter one and think about some of the things that it has to say to us. some very encouraging things and some challenging things as well. And we need encouragement. We live in a day when there's much to discourage us. You know, Paul was very much in love with these Philippian believers. We read, you remember, in Acts chapter sixteen of the first occasion on which he visited this city, the first occasion which the gospel was carried to Europe by the Apostle Paul and those who were with him. Paul saw this vision in the middle of the night, and it said, Come over into Macedonia and help us. And it says, And immediately we endeavored to go, assuredly gathering, that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to that. This morning, as I was about to get on board of the plane in Miami, to come up this way, I took out fifteen cents, and then I noticed I didn't have fifteen cents, so I got changed from a quarter for a fellow to buy a newspaper. And he said to me, he says, I don't know what you want to need the news for, he says, there's no good news in it. And so often it's that way. There's very little to encourage in this world. We have a broadcaster at home, a TV broadcast. I went to school with him, as a matter of fact. And every night he tells you all the bad news, and he signs off with the same words every night, may the good news be yours. He just told us all the bad news, and he says, may the good news be yours. Well, we have the good news. That's the encouraging word. We have the good news. Now, when Paul heard this voice and this vision that he had, come over to Macedonian help us, we might have thought, well, what they needed is some medical help. After all, Dr. Luke is in the company here, and they might need some medical attention there, but they didn't gather that they were over there to help them medically. And they might have gathered that they needed some material help because we learn elsewhere in Second Corinthians chapter eight that those saints that Philippi were very poor materially. Paul tells us that they gave out of their deep poverty and abounded under the riches of their liberality. So they were very poor materially but he didn't get that idea. No. They got the idea that when this man said come and help us, he didn't say come and preach the gospel, he said come and help us, that what they needed was the gospel. Because the only way that you can help anybody permanently is with the golf. You can give a man medical help, and you're going to die anyway. It's a question of time. You might live to be ninety five or a hundred and five. But sooner or later, he's going to do just what everybody else has done before him. He's going to just up and die one day. And you can help a man by giving him physical training and exercise. And you can go through all of these exercises, they tell you to do, and get your bicycles and all the rest of it, and play tennis. But sooner or later... That's not going to be any profit to you any longer, because it's that bodily exercise profit for a little time. So any help that you give a person physically or materially is only temporary help. So if you really want to help a person permanently, then you've got something to help them with, and that's the gospel. Come over into Macedonia and help us, and immediately we endeavor to go assuredly gathering that the Lord and called us to preach the gospel to them. And if you're a Christian here tonight, not only to the preacher, but to you as an individual, God has put you in trouble with the God. You have the responsibility not only of believing it for yourself, but you have the responsibility of sharing it with others. Paul refers to the gospel. He says, by which we have been saved. For the gospel is, it is. The good news, it is the power of God and the salvation. through everyone that believes in it. The world is full of bad news, but we have good news from God that affects us not only for time, but for all eternity. And praise His name we know in the authority of God's word that there is a hope that we have in Christ. Not an uncertain hope, but it's the hope that's eternal. In hope of eternal life, as Scripture says, it's God that cannot lie from before the world began. It's called a blessed hope in Titus chapter two. We're looking for the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us. Peter calls it a living hope. It says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It says, Begotten will begin unto a living hope by the resurrection from the dead. And this is what is afforded to us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to think a little bit about this tonight because in this passage in Philippians chapter one, Paul mentions the gospel. six times over. That word occurred. Good news. That was the way that they became acquainted with the Apostle Paul first, because they came there to preach the gospel to them. But I want to call your attention to just three of these that are mentioned, and it so happens that these three have the same letter in the English language, not in Greek, but in English it does. In verse five, he speaks of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Secondly, in verse twelve, he says, The things which have happened to me have fallen out rather for the furtherance of the gospel. And then in verse twenty-seven, let your conversation become as the gospel of Christ. And he tells them to stand fast in one spirit, striving together for the faith of the gospel. So you have three things. Fellowship in the gospel, furtherance of the gospel, and the faith of the gospel. First of all, let's think a little bit about what he has to say as he commends them for their fellowship in the gospel. He says, first of all, they cannot think about them at all without doing two things, praying for them, and secondly, thanking God for them. He says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine. So he mentions that both in prayer and praise, these believers are were considered because of their fellowship in the gospel. Now, that word fellowship is a big word. It's a word that is translated a number of times in the New Testament by the word communion. Or it's translated partner or partaker. It means to share in common. And that's the common responsibility of all God's people, to share in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now what Paul is speaking of here undoubtedly in relation to these Philippian believers was that they were helping in a material way. He mentions that here in this chapter and it mentions it also in Second Corinthians Chapter eight that they gave out of their deep poverty. And he says, you remember in the last chapter that he sent once and again unto my necessity. And then he goes on to say, my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. He said, you have been faithful in your fellowship in the gospel. He says, you need no fear because God is no man's death. And God will honor you because God's word says, those that honor me, I will honor, and those that despise me shall be lightly deceived. But I think it's a very notable thing what he says here. He says, he remarks about their continuance. He says, he says, your fellowship, verse five, in the gospel from the first day until now. From the first time that he had met them, unto that present moment, these believers, as Philippi, were backing him in his service for God. And what a reward will be theirs in that day, for their faithfulness in the support of the work of the Lord. I remember a number of years ago I was in Nassau in the Bahamas, and I was speaking on a passage in Second Corinthians, and I spoke on three W. It says that the Apostle Paul, just shortly after he was saved, it was in Damascus. And it said certain disciples who were there, believers, put him in a basket, and it's the Wicca basket, that's what the Greek text says, you know, one of these woven baskets. And they put him through a window in the wall, and they lowered him to the ground, and so he escaped out of the hand of King Ereda. But I quote one of the three things, the wall, the window, and the Wicca West. And I quote from the fact that they're obstacles. in our Christian service, things that we come up against. Paul speaks about the fact that a great and affectionate door is open unto me, he says, but there are many adversaries. So we're not to be surprised by opposition that arises, but we have walls of opposition. But then there are also windows. God says he will not suffer us, that we're able, but will with the trial make a way of escape, that we may be able to bear. There's always a window. And then there's the wicker bath. And I use that as an illustration of our responsibility in connection with the work of the Lord. And I mentioned that I'm sure that, this is what I said, I said, I'm sure that as they lowered Saul of Tarsus to the ground, these brethren didn't drop it from twenty feet up. You know, they held on and let him down very gingerly to the ground. Well, anyway, I made some further remarks along that line. And after the meeting of Brother... who had been in the work there for many years, came up to me and he said, well, brother, he says, I appreciated the message, but I don't agree with everything you said. I said, well, what didn't you agree with? Well, he said, you said, that you were sure that those brethren had not dropped him from twenty feet up, they lowered him very tenderly to the ground. I said, that's right, that's what I said. He said, well, I'm not so sure about that. He said, sometimes your brethren can let you down pretty hard. You know, it's a good thing to hold on to the ropes. For that moment, as far as the history of the Church of God here on earth, it hinged on those brethren who were supporting in a practical way, holding on to the rope, Saul of Sarkin. None of his letters had been written. None of the churches which he laid under the ground had been written. And think of the rich ministry that you and I would be bereft of today if those brethren at that critical moment had not supported by holding on to the rope. So Paul is thankful... He's a priesthood here. He says, of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. You know, one of the great words in the New Testament scriptures is that word continues. How God delights. You know, it's one thing to begin. Paul speaks of the Galatians that says, ye did run well. He speaks of their experience as though it's something in the past rather than the present reality. But it says of those early believers you remember in Acts chapter two, they continue. They not only began. But they continued steadfast in the Apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking of breath, and in prayer. And one of the most refreshing things to me as I go around and meet people here and there is to come back maybe ten years later to see the same person. And persons, maybe they don't think much of their Christian testimony, but they're keeping on going on. Let us go on. Let us go on. Let us go on. That's the watchword in the Epistle of Hebrews. Let us go on. And it's a good thing. The Lord Jesus, remember in Luke chapter twenty-two, as he looked at the twelve, he says to them this, Ye are they, which have continued with you in all of my trials. What a word of commendation. They had stuck with it. Will ye also go away? The Lord Jesus said in John chapter six, the Peter and the other disciples, and Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? One of the great things in the Christian life is to keep on going on. Keep on going on. Remember that verse in Hebrews chapter thirteen in another connection? But it says, Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. Continually. We don't only do it once and forget about it from your on. But we continue. Ye are they which have continued. The Lord Jesus said in John chapter eight, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. Some years ago I was speaking at the funeral service of a young fella. I say young. You know, the older you get, the younger these ages seem. He was about fifty-two. I'm fifty-five now when he passed away. But anyway, I think I'm still a young man. They say fifty is the youth of old age. I don't know. But anyway, and the old age of youth, that's the other way they put it. So two ways of looking at that. But at any rate, I was speaking at this funeral of this brother. And I said afterwards to his sister, I said, you know, I said, I think one of the most complimentary things that can be said of any Christian or that can be true of any Christian is that he's taken for granted. And she said, what do you mean? I said, when you can count on that person or a person filling the place that God has given to them, where nobody has to wonder where they're going to be there, where they're going to be in the spot, ye or they which have continued. The Lord Jesus said, you remember, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples in thee. Paul writing to Timothy says in First Timothy, for continue in the things which thou hast learned. Not only begin, but continue. And Paul looks forward confidently to the future as far as these believers were concerned, because he was observing their path. He was observing their life up to this moment, and he says, being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will complete it in the day of Jesus Christ. And I want you to notice this. He is not counting on the perseverance of the saints. He's counting on the perseverance of the saints. He which has begun a good work in you, he'll complete it in the day of Jesus Christ. I love these verses here in Second Thessalonians three. Paul says, Pray that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. Second Thessalonians three, verse two. For all men have not faith, but the Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil. And notice what he says in verse four. He says, and we have confidence in the Lord touching you that you both do and will do the things which you command you. Now he does not say we have confidence in you touching the Lord. He's not counting on their perseverance. He's counting on the Lord's perseverance. He says, we have confidence in the Lord touching you. That's quite another thing. And so we put our confidence in what God is going to do. He which has begun a good work in you will complete it in the day of Jesus Christ. Augustus' top lady expressed that thought so well when he wrote, the work which his goodness began, the arm of his strength will complete. His promises, yea and all men, are never with forfeited yet. Think future? nor things that are now. Not all things below or above can make him, his purpose for God, or sever my soul from his love. My name from the palms of his hands eternity will not erase. Impressed on his heart they remain in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure, as sure as the earnest is given. More happy, but not more secure, the souls of the blessed heaven. Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will complete it in the day of Jesus Christ. And like the Philippians who have a share, a fellowship in the Gospel, you and I too have this as well. And the Bible says, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. We have been put in trust with the Gospel. We have the responsibility of sharing it with others. We're reading just the other evening in Acts chapter twenty where Paul states that he testified of the Gospel of the grace of God. He said he did it. I've showed you publicly. He says, and from house to house. In other words, he not only witnessed in a public way, but he said he witnessed the individual from home to home. And what a wonderful thing it is to see that exemplified for us in the Apostle. So we have an individual responsibility to witness. We could share in prayer in the work of the Lord. We could share in purse, by materially, support the work of the Lord, and we could share in the fruit that is seen in souls that are saved. And so Paul says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Your fellowship, your partners in the gospel, from the first day until now. And then in verse twelve he says, the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather for the furthest of the gospel. We were reading last night in our home at the table the seventy-sixth song. And among other things, it says this in the tenth verse. Surely the wrath of man shall praise. And the remainder, God does restrain. Even the things which seem most against us, God works out his purposes of blessing in that. That's what this text seems to tell us. The things which have happened to me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of the gospel. Every believer has experiences of sorrow and sadness and sickness and shame and suffering that come into his life in one way or another. Perhaps some of you in the last year you said goodbye to loved ones, husbands, wife, father, mother. children you've had business reverses and you wonder why the Lord allowed this why did this have to happen to me we say and yet Paul says here the things which have happened unto me and Paul now rather for the furtherance of the gospel now Paul could say this by faith I'm sure he couldn't always see in every instance how it worked out that way but the Bible says we walk by faith and not by faith But it also tells us this, that God is divinely ordering our life. It says in Psalm thirty-seven, the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord holds him with his right hand. It says in Job twenty-three that he performeth the things that is appointed for me. And it's a thrill, as a Christian to realize, even though I cannot see this often, that God allows nothing to come into my life apart from his appointment. He performs a thing which is appointed for me. And you know, many of the things we look at and we might say like Job might have said, wow, this would be in this common and this tornado has come and so forth and killed all of my children, but he doesn't say that. Behind all of these things which seem to be in the forefront, he saw the hand of God And he says, the Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away. And so behind all of our happenings, even our accidents, somebody has said there are no accidents in a believer's life, there are only incidents. God is at work, and we read in Romans chapter eight, that God is working all things, things don't work, God works. God is working all things together for good. So them that love him will ever called according to to his purpose. How important it is to realize that which the Word of God teaches us so very clearly. And sometimes it is true that the very worst things that happen to us in life are the best things. Think of the Apostle Paul here. He tells us here in the thirteen verse that as a result of his imprisonment He says, many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bond, are much more bold to speak the gospel without fear. In the fourth chapter of the Epistle of Colossians, the Apostle Paul tells us this, that as a result of his imprisonment, he suggests this rather, he prays. He said he wants the believers to pray that a door of utterance might be open unto him, that he might speak the mystery as he ought to speak. Well, can you think of any better door that was opened to the Apostle Paul than in being in Christ? When those jail doors flanged on him, God laid it on his heart to write the letter to the Ephesians, the letter to the Philippians, the letter to the Colossians, and where would the Church of God be today without these epistles that have so brought out this wonderful truth concerning the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ? So by being shut up, God opened up to him a door of utterance, and you and I are prompting in the good of this today. Paul says, the things which have happened to me have fallen out rather for the furtherance of the gospel. Some of you here know my dad. Dad's eighty-seven now, but when he was about three and a half or four years of age, he lost practically the eyesight in one of his eyes. So he's been going all of these years just on one eye. But when he was in his early twenties, a doctor examined him and told him that he was going to lose the sight in the other eye, so he would have been blind. Well, the result of this bad news was that he got busy, and he memorized the New Testament, parts of the old, and he memorized the little worship hymnal that we used. And so the very worst thing that happened to him turned out to be the best thing, because as a result of that, he's been using that. ever since in his ministry in the Word. And believe me, when you're studying the Word, it's very helpful to be able to know where a verse is and to know a verse without having to look it up in a concordance and find out where it is. And so that was a real blessing in his life. Down in Alabama, there's a town. I can't think of the name of the town. It's an odd name. But anyway, there's a town in Alabama. And they have in the town square a monument to the bull weevil. The bull weevil? Yes, a monument to the bull weevil. Well, years ago, all those men down there were cotton farmers. And the bull weevil came through there one year and just completely wiped out everyone. Those farmers really lost their shirts that year. But as a result of that, they diversified their crops. And they went into peanuts like President Carter. And they went into soybeans and several other crops. And the result of it was that in a few years, they were making more money than they ever made on cups. And so these men in gratitude erected a monument to the Bolivia. And I believe that, you know, as we examine our lives, you and I could make monuments. It's a similar thing. The things which we thought were against us, God was using in a special way to redirect our lives. I read an interesting story some months ago, and perhaps you may have read it too, and I'm not sure of the exact details, but it went something like this. It was in Reader's Digest. I think it was really a fictional story, but it could have happened. It was written by A.J. Cronin. And he told the story of a man in England. He was what they call a verger over there. I'd never even heard the word before. But anyway, apparently I looked it up, and it's something like a glorified janitor. He has other duties, but that's basically his duty, taking care of the church. Well, he'd been working there for some twenty or twenty-five years, and the church is a verger. And one day, the new vicar, the new pastor, the new preacher, he arrives on the scene, and he's looking over the record. of the men who are working there, and he discovered that this Berger, who has been working there for some twenty-five years, doesn't know how to read and write. So he called him into his office, and he said, I've been looking at the records here, and it seems to me that you don't know how to read or write. Is that right? Yes, sir. Well, he said, an emergency might arise in the church where you might need somebody who could read, and you'd be helpless. And he said, I hate to do it, he says, but I'm going to have to let you go. And he had to break the news that his manly was fired. So the man leaves the church. He doesn't know what he's going to do now. He's lost his job. He's older in life. It's not so easy to get work. What am I going to do? He's asking himself. And as he's walking down the street, he sees a vacant building for rent. And he says, you know, I think. that if I took those few shekels that I've saved up and invested in a certain kind of business in that spot, it would make money. So he decided that's where he is at. And he rents the place, and the business from the very start had just boomed. In fact, it did so well that in a few years he had two or three others of the same type of business in the city of London and was doing very well. One day he's in the bank. And the banker asked him, he said, I'll tell him, I'd like to see you in my office. So he goes in to see the bank, banker. And the banker says, you know, he says, I've been looking over the records here, and I find that you've got eighty thousand dollars in your checking account. And he says, that's much too much money to have in your checking account. He says, you ought to invest some of that money and keep a minimal amount in your checking account for carrying on your business. Well, the man says, I'd be glad to do that. Now, what do I have to do? Well, he says, we have a trust department here. He says, we'd be glad to handle it for you. There's a surplus fund and invest it and make some money for it with you for a flight fee. Well, he says, yes, that's a fine. He says, what do I have to do? He says, well, and the banker reaches in his drawer and he pulls out a piece of paper. He says, you have to sign this paper authorizing me to invest this money for it. And the man says, I'd be glad to do that. He says, except for one thing. What's that, the banker says, I can't read or write it. And the banker leans back in his chair. He says, now, that's not it. He says, here's a man that doesn't know how to read or write. He's got eighty thousand dollars cash in the bank. He says, where would you be today if you knew how to read and write? He says, I'd be the janitor back at the church. Sometimes, sometimes the very worst thing that happens to you is the very best thing. When you get to heaven and you ask the thief on the cross, What is the worst thing that ever happened to you on earth? He'd say, I was crucified. And if you ask him, what was the best thing that ever happened to you on earth? He said, I was crucified next to Christ. That's why I'm here. Sometimes the very worst things that happened to you and me are the very best things. You remember what Joseph said? His brethren had sold him as a slave. And he cried for mercy. The Bible tells them the Psalms, that the tears rolling down his cheeks, you know, he was crying that they wouldn't. Oh, my brothers, don't tell me. I'm your own flesh and blood. They sealed their hearts against them and sold them. And years later, Joseph says to his brethren, come near unto me, my brethren. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for you. And, you know, behind our lives, God is at work. God is at work. God is working all things to get for good, to those that love him who are the called according to his purpose. Paul speaks here, remember, of this thorn in the flesh that he had, and he prayed three times over that God would remove this thorn in the flesh from him, but unsuccessfully the answer came back. Basically, no. And he says, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And Paul tells us why that thorn in the flesh was given him. He says, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above nations, because of the abundance of revelation that has committed to me. He says, God sent me that thorn in the flesh to keep me from being proud. You know, we can get too big for God to use us, but we can't be too little for God to use us. And God kept that man small by this thorn in the flesh. We're not told exactly what it was, but it humbled him in some way. And you and I don't know the reasons why God sends these things into our experiences. But Paul says here, many of the brethren waxing confident by bonds are much more bold to speak the gospel without fear. Whenever I think of this type of thing, I think of the experience of William Cowper, one of the hymn writers, he and John Newton teamed together to write the only hymns, the first collection of English hymns. And, you know, before that time they sang most of the songs, you know, from the Bible. But then these men wrote hymns like we know them today. Hymns like, for instance, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear and hymns of that nature. Well, William Cowper was a fellow that was very easily discouraged, very easily depressed. And John Newton also tried to encourage him. He had to, William Powell was one, he felt that a lot of doubt. And on several occasions he had tried to take his own life. And on this particular occasion, he had hired a cab, in those days horse-drawn cabs, with the intention of taking it to the Penn River and jumping in and ending it all. And as he started out, he had paid the man to take him there, but there was a tremendous fog settled over the city. And the cab driver, the horse-drawn cab, he couldn't find the river. He couldn't find the river. He got lost and mixed up somehow on the street. And by the time he was able to find the river, the clouds had lifted, the fog clouds had lifted, and so had William Cowper's spirit. And then he wrote, subsequent to that, this hymn, God moved in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He planted his footsteps on the sea. rides upon the strong. Deep and unfathomable minds have never failed to hear. He treasures up his bright design and work his sovereign view. Blind unbelief is sure to earn, can it work in vain. God is his own interpreter. He will make it plain. The things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather for the furtherance of the dawn. We were speaking tonight a little bit at the table about the late Alfred Gibbs, and I remember well years ago hearing him speak on the subject which he entitled The Song of Jacob and the Song of Paul. He referred, first of all, to that passage in Genesis chapter forty-two, where you read Jacob saying this, as a result of his voice coming back from Egypt, having been told there by the Lord of that land who was Joseph, to Jacob, that they could get no more grain unless the younger son of the family, Benjamin, his true brother, was brought down. Sidious delayed and dilly-dallyed, but finally Jacob had to face up to it and then he goes, he lets Benjamin go in the custody of Judah. Judas is all stand good for him. But then Jacob throws up his hand. and despair and he says, all these things are against me. That was the song of Paul. And the song of Paul is in Romans eight in verse twenty-eight where he says, we know that God is working all things together for good to those who love you. The song of Jacob in the song of Paul. And he commented on the fact, little did Jacob know, when he spoke those words, the seventeen happiest years of his life, right ahead. He had had Joseph for seventeen years before he was sold as a slave. The first seventeen years of Joseph's life. And the last seventeen years of Jacob's life, from the hundred and thirty to the hundred and forty-seven when he died, he was to have the privilege of being under the care and protection of that son, to whom the Scripture said, that Israel loved Joseph more than all of his time. Truly God moved in a mysterious way. He meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Paul tells us in Philippians chapter four in verse eleven, I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. It wasn't something that he had known instinctively. He had learned it in the experience of life. I remember some years ago a number of us were over and went over on a trip to Israel and We were in Rome for a while. I remember we went there into the dungeon. I don't know if it's the actual dungeon, but they say it is. This Mamertine prison where Paul was supposed to be in the prison before he was executed. It was several feet below ground, this dark dungeon. And the brother who was there who brought a message at that time, he commented on that because that's where the prison letters, no doubt, were written from or something similar. And he commented on that where Paul was at work. in whatever state I am, there we are to be condemned. To know that God was working out his purpose, he was great, even in that imprisonment. As a result of it, the Gospel has reached out into the world in a far greater way than it could have if Paul had been publicly ministering the word during all of those years. I was in prison. Then in verse twenty-seven it tells us that we're to stand fast in one spirit striving together for the faith of the God. We know that this is the Lord's desire for us. He tells us, you remember in John chapter seventeen, in his high priestly prayer to the Father, he prayed, that his own mind be wise, that the world may believe that thou have sent us. The one convincing argument that we can give to the world of the reality of our faith is the unity of things. It doesn't say that the world will believe by the preaching of the word, but by the preaching of our lives, when it's manifest, We are indeed one in Christ Jesus. And so the Psalmist says, Behold, our good and our pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Every one of us as Christians were either a part of the construction gang or were a part of the wrecking group. And it's much more difficult to be in the construction business than it is to be in the wrecking business. But there's a good verse of Scripture for us to remember in this connection. It found in Romans fourteen in verse nineteen. It could well be the motto of Christians in assembly life. This is what it says. Follow and the word is pursue. It's the same word translated persecute. Why persecute is thou me? Pursue or chase. What should we be chasing at? It says follow the things which make for peace and things wherewith we may edify may be filled up one another. Follow the things by which we can build up the things not by which we can tear down the people of God. It says in verse twenty-seven, it suggests to us the importance of our personal life. It says, let your conversation be as it becomeeth the gospel of Christ. This is the word that is translated as conversation is the word for which we get our word politics. And it refers to the public duty, that which can be seen of our life. Let your life that is seen in a public way before the world. You know, we have a good report of those which are without. Paul speaks of of the elders having a good report of them which are without, as well as a good witness among the believers. Your life that can be seen is much that cannot be seen. Only God can read our heart, but that which can be seen. Let your conversation, your manner of life, be as it becomeeth the gospel of Christ. I often think of one thing that Paul testifies to in Acts chapter twenty-three, and what a wonderful testimony it is. Even though many of the things which he did before he was truly born again were wrong yet Paul says this in Acts twenty three I have lived with all good conscience before God unto this day as far as he knew his life before he came to Christ and after he came to Christ would have been with one aim to please God isn't that a remarkable statement even though a part of that time he was actually persecuting the people of God But he said, I did it ignorantly. He says, I received mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. He didn't know what he was doing. He thought he was doing the will of God. The Lord spoke of that in John, says, many that will kill you and so forth will think that they're doing God, sir. The Lord mentions that in John's gospel. I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day. This word conversation had to do with the, you might say, their life as citizens. in this world. And we have it as, you might say, our public life as citizens of heaven, that which is seen. And we're to behave as those who are citizens of heaven. I like that passage in Numbers chapter fifteen, I think it is, where it refers to something that would be true of the Israelites. It said that God told them that they were to take all their garments and around their garments there was to be a ribbon of blue. So, and he says, you shall remember that you belong to the Lord your God. Basically, that's what he was telling. Whenever you look at that ribbon of blue and you're walking here on earth, that reminds you that you belong to the one that's in heaven. You know, it's a good thing. Three hundred times in the book of Deuteronomy, it says, the Lord thy God, the Lord thy God, the Lord thy God. You know, God has been pleased to put his name upon him. You know, that's a wonderful thing. He's not ashamed. to call us rest. Oftentimes we may be ashamed of ourselves and have reason to face, but he's not ashamed to call us rest. He's been pleased to link his name with us. I am the God of Jacob. That rascal, yes, I am the God of Jacob. And he's linked his name with you and me as well. Someone has said that the worst enemy of a good cause is the one who badly misrepresents. God told Israel in the third command of the law that... Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. In a very real sense, the only person that can take the name of the Lord their God in vain are those that either are Christians, are believers, or those who profess the name. The man of this world, if he takes the name of Christ and an oath upon his lips, he's not taking the name of the Lord in vain for a very simple reason. He doesn't even profess to be Christ. You know, my wife can take my name in vain because she's my wife and she has my name. but you can't take my name in vain because you don't have it. And it's only those that have the name of Christ or profess to have the name of Christ that can take his name in vain. And so it's a challenging thing to realize that you and I have had his name put upon us. Now it says that they strive together, not with each other, not fighting against each other, but they're striving together for the faith of the gospel. And that suggests teamwork, that believers work together. We don't all have the same gift, the same responsibility, That we have, the same responsibility to exercise the gift that we have, but we're working together as a team for the common effort. Just as the members of the body work together to accomplish what the head designed, so you and I are the whole to the head, saying, Lord, what will thou have me to do, and to seek to fill the place that he has for us. And if we're doing that, then we're working together as a team. We're not striving with each other, but striving together for the faith of the God. May God bless you all these thoughts tonight. First of all, your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Each of us has the privilege of sharing it. And then to realize that God is using us, and God is working in and through our lives to accomplish that which he designed, and it's all going to go