Ordinary Saints

Paul comes full circle. He began his letter by wishing the Philippians grace, and now he closes with the same theme that's run throughout the letter. Verse 23, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Not your circumstances, they may not change. Not your trials, they may remain.

Not your afflictions, they may continue. But his grace can profoundly influence and affect the way you meet all of that as it profoundly affects your spirit. As Paul closed his letter to the Philippians, he wished them God's grace. Let me ask you this, what do you deserve from God?

Do you deserve to be his child and be used by him? Do you deserve his attention or his answers to your prayers? The reality is that God relates to us on the basis of his grace, not on the basis of what we deserve.

This is one of the important lessons we're going to see today. You're listening to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. This is the final lesson in the series entitled Extravagant Grace. Stephen's entitled This Message, Ordinary Saints. Take your New Testament copy of Paul's letter to the Philippians and let's turn one last time to the last chapter and the last few verses. Now what we're going to do is we cover just the last few verses as we're going to sort of work as an outline the fact that Paul is addressing four different groups of people. The first group is the church, of course, in Philippi. Verse 21, greet every saint in Christ Jesus.

Let's stop for a moment. This is customary for Paul. This is how he often wraps up his letters. He gives greetings, sends his affection in this phrase to these believers, and he's doing this with the Philippians. Now, he'll say the same thing in his letters, for instance, to Rome, to the Roman believers.

He ends it that way. And to the Corinthians, both of the letters we happen to have, 1 and 2 Corinthians, he ends it the same way, although in those letters he adds that phrase with a holy kiss, greet one another with a holy kiss. A greeting with a kiss wasn't inappropriate. It was cultural.

It was a lot like a hug or a big handshake to us or maybe a slap on the back. In fact, you can travel. If you travel and you go to other assemblies that I've had the privilege to go to, really outside of this culture, they do this to this day. Kiss some countries it's one cheek, other countries it's both cheeks. And you're really not kissing their cheek. You're sort of kissing the air just on either side. And when I go and preach, for instance, in South American countries where the messages are broadcast in Spanish in many of those countries, we'll have a meeting or a rally or I'll preach at a church, and afterwards there's a long line and it will take forever because it's a kiss on both sides of the face. And very, very endearing.

In fact, I thought of in this study my daughter Candice, our oldest daughter, is married to a Chilean. They're going to go to an assembly this morning with their time. They're just wrapping it up and they will go into that assembly and everyone will greet each other with a kiss on both cheeks.

Very affectionate, very kind, very gracious. Now here in this letter to the Philippians, Paul drops the holy kiss part out. I mean, what fun is that? He drops that part out. He just says, greet one another. And he does that probably because he doesn't need to say it. We're guessing. More than likely it's part of their culture.

They're going to do it anyway. But I think there's something here. He may have left it out because in all his other letters, if you look at them carefully, he's telling the assembly to greet one another. So as you greet one another, just as you came in and I hope greeted each other, maybe it's a handshake or a hug, he's telling them to greet one another. But here in this letter, with the context he's established in chapter one, he's telling the elders and the deacons more specifically to do the greeting. And he's emphasizing the verbal part of this affirmation.

He's stressing, in fact, the word every. Greet every one of them. Greet each and every member of the Philippian church. I want each and every one of them to receive from the leaders on my behalf a warm, affectionate, verbal affirmation as if to remind every one of these dear, faithful, praying, supporting church members that he loves them and that he prays for them and that he cares for them and he appreciates every single one of them. And would you notice what Paul calls them here? He writes, greet every saint. Now, you might be tempted to think, well, this just got easy.

That line is going to be really short. Only a few, probably, have arrived at this, you know, sainthood status. And we frankly think that way because we've been influenced by centuries of erroneous preaching. The Reformation didn't clear everything up. The Western church, the Roman Catholic church and the Eastern splinter, the Eastern Orthodox church canonizes those rare individuals who are very remarkable, have decades or a lifetime of some kind of service and even miracles attested to them. And if you got all that in your resume after you're dead, by the way, you can't be a saint when you're alive, after you're dead, you could be given the status of a saint.

People can burn candles to you, venerate you, you might have a little statue in your likeness or whatever. The Western church is right now in the process of doing that with Mother Teresa. She's been dead a little over 20 years and already they are validating her in their quest to make her a saint with these the needed two miracles. One is a woman who claimed to have been healed by her photograph and she had a locket, her pictures inside, Teresa's pictures inside, and she claimed that she laid it on the tumor and a beam of light came out of the locket and healed her and this has helped the Vatican affirm her candidacy for sainthood. Now I don't want to get off track here because what I really want to do is point out the fact that even for us, we tend to think of saints as those amazing people and they've arrived, spiritual celebrities would be the saints. Even outside the religious system, out there on the street, people will say, you know, that guy's a saint. What a great guy. That girl, that gal is a saint. What are they saying? They're just, you know, nigh under perfection.

I mean, what chance do any of us have? Well, for starters, you need to understand that all of what I just said about religion and what it requires has nothing to do with Scripture. It's all entirely, completely man-made, not a shred of Scripture. And for those that are canonized and arrive at this status of sainthood, the church believes they're let out of purgatory.

That's man-made too. According to the Apostle Paul, this term saint, in fact the term is hagios, it means separated one. Holy, it means separated. Holy is something dedicated to or set apart, sanctified unto.

That's what it means. It's a reference not to special Christians. It's a reference to every Christian because every Christian has been separated unto God as one of his own. In fact, the term saint happens to be the favorite term of the Apostle Paul for the believer. He uses that term for Christians 40 plus times in his letters.

He addresses all the believers here in Philippi. The letters started by writing to all the saints, chapter 1 verse 1, and including the overseers, elders, and deacons. So the deacons, the elders, and every member of the assembly, obviously implied in that as they're united with Christ by faith, they happen to be, all of them are saints.

Saints. Even to the problem ridden, immature congregation in Corinth, Paul literally shreds any doubt about this term because he writes to them and he says, you are saints by calling. You are called a saint. A saint is not a superhero. It's not someone that has miracles connected to them or their photograph or whatever. A saint is anyone who has entered the life of Christ by faith in him alone.

In fact, you notice that's the basis here. He writes in Philippians chapter 4. Paul clarifies, greet every saint in Christ Jesus. Because of your union with Jesus Christ, your status immediately is sainthood. You're a saint right now. You're not a saint because you've got it all figured out. You are called a saint because God called you to himself by faith in Christ and all who are in Christ are called saints. A special possession of God. By the way, there's nothing in scripture that would encourage you or anybody to venerate or pedestalize or burn candles or incense to or pray to any past or living saint.

That also is entirely man-made. Saints are not people to be worshipped. Saints are people who worship the true and living God. Secondly, Paul acknowledges a group of people here in his closing remarks. The second group, notice verse 21, greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. In other words, the brothers who are with me right now just don't want to be left out of the greeting. They want to say hello to.

They want to express their affection and appreciation for you. Now Paul doesn't mention here who they are. We do know, putting a few pieces together, this would have included Timothy. In fact, if you go all the way back to chapter 1 and verse 1, Paul makes Timothy the co-author of this letter.

They're together writing this. We're also told in chapter 2 and verse 25, Paul is sending Epaphroditus to them from his side. He's the one carrying the letter to the Philippians with him, this man who really risked his life and his health to serve Paul and the church as unto Christ.

And there are others we could suppose, but he doesn't mention them. He simply calls them though, the point I want to make is this, he calls them brothers. Brothers. In Christ we happen to be in the same family because we belong to Christ.

So who are you? You're a saint. You're a saint and you're also a brother or sister to all the other saints in the family around you. We not only belong to God, we belong to each other. And we need to guard that perspective and to exalt Christ so nobody is a big shot.

Everybody is a brother or a sister in the family. Now Paul acknowledges a third group. He writes at the beginning of verse 22, all the saints greet you. The context indicates Paul is now including all the saints in the churches in his area here in Rome where he's under house arrest.

And let me just pause. Don't miss the graciousness of this man who is obviously being motivated by the Spirit of God. Don't miss his gracious spirit. We've already learned in former studies that the believers in Rome abandoned them. Even the church informally had written them off. Many of them believed he was in prison because he was getting what he deserved. They weren't visiting him. They weren't caring for him.

They weren't financially providing for him. It would be this gift from the Philippian believers that would pay his rent. I mean Paul could have backed the truck up here and said, you know, I wish there were some saints around here who would greet you too.

There aren't any. That's Stephen's epistle. He is a bridge builder and how gracious he is. He's building a bridge that these churches can walk across in fellowship one day. And with the best of intentions that I think with a rather optimistic spirit he says, the unwritten word is, I know they'd want to say this if they could and we're not talking or they're not talking to me so I'm just going to speak for them. They want to send you greetings as well.

How gracious is that. All the saints here greet you too. The fourth and final group that Paul acknowledges makes an appearance in the text or mentioned at the end of verse 22.

All the saints greet you especially those of Caesar's household. Now here Paul becomes a little bit more specific yet at the same time not mentioning any names and more than likely that's for their own protection. It wouldn't be wise for Paul. He's an enemy of Caesar and Neewer's going to put him to death. He's an enemy of the state. He's considered treasonous. He will not worship any Lord but the living Lord. It's not going to be wise for Paul who is an enemy of Caesar to mention by name friends of his who are evidently embedded within the administration of Caesar.

So he just kind of generically says and gets his point across. There are some saints that want to greet you too and they're working for Nero and the effect would have been the same. That would have been wonderfully encouraging to Philippi and the believers there. Paul is effectively saying there are people getting saved right under Nero's nose. And with that Paul comes full circle. He began his letter by wishing the Philippians grace and now he closes with the same theme.

It's run throughout the letter. Verse 23, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Who are you?

Your saint. A separated one unto God by his own choosing. To whom do you belong? You belong to God and his family, your brothers and sisters.

What do you have? Grace. It is grace capable to meet every need that you'll have. In fact, I love the fact that he writes it this way, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, not your circumstances, they may not change. Not your trials, they may remain.

Not your afflictions, they may continue. But his grace can profoundly influence and affect the way you meet all of that as it profoundly affects your spirit. Grace. Grace is that unmerited, undeserved favor from God.

None of us earned our way in. Sweet testimony of this couple. Earlier you came to faith in Christ leaving their Amish community, a merit based religious system, discovering that it's a gift and receiving it by faith in Christ. Grace is undeserved. Grace is not merited.

Grace isn't earned over a long period where you have a perfect track record. Maybe I can pray to God today because I've had a couple of good days leading up to today and maybe he'll give me some attention. Maybe I can reach him. Maybe he'll listen to me.

See, we run that through our minds. Do I really deserve to pray to God today? Are you kidding? It's grace. Do we deserve to be used by God? Are you kidding? It's grace.

Unmerited, unfailing, undeserved love and favor from God. I came across this news release, just a byline in a newspaper, but it kind of said it all. Lily Bultrup was her name and she had a perfect record as a bus driver for the Houston school district and according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, she was going to receive an award for her safe driving. Her colleagues wanted to go along and cheer her on and they were very proud of her as they should have been. And so they all piled on a bus to go to the award ceremony and Lily drove. On the way to the award ceremony, Lily turned the corner too sharply.

It must have been exciting in there as they were bantering about and then flipped the bus on its side, sending not only herself but 16 others to the hospital for minor emergency treatment. She had gone her entire career accident-free and she's on her way to the award ceremony. Do you think she got that award? No, she did not. Because you were on the committee. No, she didn't get it. One author said it this way.

Award committees do not operate on the basis of grace. How did you receive this undeserved grace? Paul writes it belongs to, it's dispensed through and by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything ties back to him. We could have spent a sermon just reiterating how it all ties back to him. In fact, Paul will mention the Lord, the Lord Jesus, Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ 40 times in this little letter.

Paul goes back to him. Every responsibility of the believer, every desire of the believer, every benefit received by the believer, all of it is summed up in what Christ does or who Christ is or what Christ has given us or what Christ is going to do for us. Paul opened this letter by writing that he was a slave of Christ. Chapter 1, verse 1.

His imprisonment was for the gospel advancement to glorify Christ. Chapter 1, verse 13. For Paul, living was all about Christ. Chapter 1, verse 21.

Dying was nothing more than being with Christ. Chapter 1, verse 23. Paul exhorted the Philippian believers to adopt this humble attitude of Christ. Chapter 2, verse 5. To find their greatest joy in Christ. Chapter 3, verse 3. To eagerly anticipate the coming, to wait eagerly for him, Christ to come. Chapter 3, verse 20. To anchor their contentment, anchor it to Christ. Chapter 4, verse 13.

To find their identity in Christ and all the grace they will need in their spirit for anything they face in Christ. The letter ends. As Paul writes this letter, it occurs to me that his quill is dipped in the ink of grace and everything he writes spells out the Lord Jesus Christ. I heard this from John Walvard, who's now with the Lord, the president of Dallas, where I attended, and Stanley Toussaint, one of my professors. The incident was recorded in a book that I've read by Chuck Swindoll, the chancellor of Dallas Seminary, and he sort of gives some specifics. And I want to close our study with this. Swindoll's book is entitled The Grace Awakening.

It's a good book you ought to read. And he writes, I never knew Louis Sperry Chafer, the founder of the seminary I attended, or Dallas. He died a few years before I began my studies in 1959. Swindoll writes, some of my professors knew him well and with that exception they knew that he was an articulate defender of the doctrine of grace. One of my mentors tells of the time when this dear man of God had concluded his final lecture and he was lecturing on grace.

It was a hot springtime afternoon in 1952. He was an older man, now 81 years of age. He was teaching this particular semester, which would be his last, from a wheelchair. And when he ended his comments, no one in the class moved. The class was over, the session was ended, but no one moved.

The two men I talked to were in the class. It was as though these young church leaders were basking in what they had heard, awestruck with the insights and enthusiasm regarding God's grace. Then this gray haired gentleman rolled his chair over to the door and as he flipped the light switch off, the class spontaneously broke into thunderous applause. He wiped away tears. His head bowed and then he lifted one hand gesturing them to stop. And as a hush fell over that class he spoke softly and unforgettably, gentlemen, for over half my life I have been studying this truth and I am just beginning to discover what the grace of God is all about. And a few weeks later he was with the Lord. He was only beginning to discover the grace of God. I have to tell you and with you we have studied this letter and I would have to say we are just beginning, right? To understand the grace of God.

Who are you? You're a saint. You didn't earn it, deserve it, it was given to you, the status, as a called out separated one unto God. So to whom do you belong? To God. For as many as received him, Christ, to them he gave the right to become children of God.

And you have a lot of brothers and sisters around here to get to know, to encourage and what do you have? Grace. Whether we recognize it or not, beloved, we are living under a lavish downpour of grace. Grace enough to meet every need, grace enough to face every day, until that day when we see Christ face to face and then the extravagance of his grace will begin to be unveiled in spectacular dimensions we cannot imagine. He is reserving incredible glory to reveal to and in us and he will forever amaze us and grace will always and forever define us. We are who we are and we are where we are. This is just a prelude forever because of his grace.

So in the meantime, between now and then, don't forget who you are. With that important reminder, we conclude not only this lesson, but this series. You've tuned in to Wisdom for the Heart, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Stephen Davey. Today's lesson is called Ordinary Saints. It's the final lesson in a seven part series called Extravagant Grace. If you'd like to own this series on a set of CDs, give us a call today. Call us at 866-48-BIBLE. That's 866-48-BIBLE or numerically it's 866-482-4253. As always, you can listen to this series online at wisdomonline.org or on the Wisdom International map. We'll be in Romans Chapter 4 starting tomorrow. So join us here on Wisdom for the Heart.