Essentials For the Mind of Christ

The main idea of this information is that fellowship in the Gospel involves not only being saved by grace through faith, but also growing in faith and spiritual maturity. The speaker emphasizes the importance of prayer and highlights the need for an awareness of prayer in order to have joy and think like Christ. The first essential for spiritual maturity is an abundance of love, which is described as the greatest virtue of the spiritual life. Love is seen as a matter of the heart that drives actions and is summarized in the commandments to love God and love others. on the fellowship of the Gospel. And there's a lot of things that we fellowship with and a lot of ways that we fellowship, but have we ever really sat down and thought about that we fellowship in the Gospel? And Paul said as we fellowship in the Gospel, he said here is the conclusion. He said that he which began a good work in you will complete it. And so we are fellowshipping in the Gospel. You were saved by grace through faith that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. But guess what? We're also growing in faith. We're also growing in Jesus Christ to spiritual maturity. None of us are what we ought to be. Amen? But we're all working on who we should be. And so that is the fellowship of the Gospel. And that's what Paul is focused in on. And so today, we're going to look at the prayer of Paul. And Paul says because of this fellowship of the Gospel, because of this need for growth in the Christian life, it calls Paul to break down and to pray. And so I've entitled the message this morning The Essentials for the Mind of Christ. If you want to have joy in your life, and you want to think like Christ thinks, then here are some essentials that must be present in your life. It begins in verse 7. Paul writes, "...even as it was meek for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and the confirmation of the Gospel, you all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that you may approve things that are excellent, and that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." So many times, especially us in missionary Baptist churches, we focus so much on salvation. We want people to be saved. Amen? That is the whole Gospel. That is the purpose that Christ came in. That is the purpose that He gave us. But sometimes we get so Gospel-focused and so salvation-focused that we forget about our own spiritual growth. We forget about that God wants to use us. And Paul understood that we need to grow. None of us would have a baby that remained an infant for very long that continued to just nurse with milk for a long period of time that we wouldn't go to the doctor and have something checked out because this is not right. When you take a baby to the doctor, they have checkups after they're born. They give them to you as a parent. And I can remember that day when we walked out of the hospital and it's like, these doctors trust us to raise this child, right? Children raising children. But they also had deals set up to where you know what? We had to go back to the hospital within a week. And they made sure that the baby was gaining weight. They made sure that the baby was doing what it needed to do. And then there was a three-month appointment and a six-month and a year. And they would do these different things to see what? To make sure these babies are growing into adults. And so they gave us the responsibility, but then they also checked up on us. And I think that Paul is writing here when he's thinking about the church at Philippi, he's thinking about their salvation, but he's also thinking about their spiritual growth. And he tells us in the letter to Galatia, he says, my little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. And he's writing to the church at Galatia and he says, my heart is aching. You have been saved, but you're not growing. Christ is not being formed in you. And if you read the book of Galatians, it's all because they had become legalistic. They had their check boxes that they needed to do and they thought, man, if I check these things off, then God's proud of me and I am the Christian that I ought to be. And he's saying, guess what? You're checking the boxes off, but you're not looking much like Jesus Christ. And so that's what he's telling them. And then in Ephesians, he says, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And then in verse 15 he said, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in him in all things, which is the head, even Christ Jesus. Even Peter preached about our growth. He commanded us, but grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen. What are the essentials to spiritual maturity? What are the essentials to growth in Jesus Christ? Well, the very first one that we notice with Paul, this is not the first time he mentions it. This is the second time in the first seven verses he mentions that he prayed for them. And so I think the first essential that we have to have is an awareness of prayer. Look at what he says in verse 8, For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ, and this I pray. Paul loved the people at Philippi. He loved the Philippian believers. And because of that, guess what? He said just like Jesus Christ desires us to grow, what is the purpose of growth? To bear fruit, right? My fruit trees, I'm so excited this year if I can keep the birds out of them. I am going to have a bucket load of peaches this year. Man, there are peaches all over my tree. And there's nectarines on my nectarines if I can keep the bird out of it. But guess what? I planted them to produce fruit. This is the first year they really produced. And so I'm excited because why? They're doing what they were designed to do. If they didn't hurry up and start producing, then guess what? They serve no purpose and they're fixing to go. But they're showing me this year they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. And so we just finished talking about the foundations of Jesus Christ. Remember the works of Jesus Christ in the past, the present, and the future? That God doesn't just save us and then just walk away from us. No, He saves us in order that He might sanctify us. In order that we might glorify Him at the resurrection and at the judgment seat of Christ. And so, the Gospel of Luke, if you read the Gospel of Luke, you will find that over twelve instances where Jesus Christ prayed. He would pray for people. He would pray with people. He would pray by Himself. And when you read this Gospel story of Luke, it's this story and it shows Jesus Christ from the beginning of His ministry all the way to His crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus Christ was constantly praying. He was a man of prayer. And Luke wanted us to understand, and a lot of times we just kind of read over in Jesus' praying, or Jesus was performing miracles and praying with them, and we read over that, but Luke has put that in his story and he wants us to understand that Jesus Christ was concerned about faithful intercession and how it was essential to a life of godliness. As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ prayed so much in front of His disciples, and the disciples saw the impact of prayer in His life that the disciples finally woke up one day and said, Lord, teach us to pray, right? You're getting all these results from prayer. Teach us to pray. We want to have God's hand on our life. And I think it's essential for you and I as Christians. We need to be aware of prayer. We need to be aware. A lot of times we're aware of a lot of other things, but we forget to pray. And prayer is the first thing that he mentioned. And notice where his prayer is focused of. We pray for a lot of physical things, right? We pray for all of these physical blessings and these things that have to pertain to earth, but notice where Paul began to pray. He didn't pray for physical stuff. He began with spiritual stuff. And look what he says. First of all, he directed it at abounding in love. Look at what he says in verse 9. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all judgment. Why do you think Paul started with love? You know, of all the things as a writer being inspired by God that he could have started praying for, I can think of a lot of things with Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church when I pray that I can pray for, right? There's a lot of things that could be put there. But he starts with love. And as I begin to think about that and I look at that, love is a matter of the heart. It is a matter of that inter-emotional being that is inside of you, a matter of the heart. And what happens when your heart gets involved? Actions begin to happen, right? When you begin to love your wife, right? With all your heart, what do you do? You end it up, actions begin to pursue them until you marry them. And so, when you think about love, love is actually all of the law, all of the works, everything God commanded us is summarized in love. As a matter of fact, He said in Matthew 22.37, Jesus saith unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Love is the single greatest virtue of the spiritual life, of growing to be like Jesus Christ. Jesus said, for God so loved the world that He gave. And He said, as I have done to you, you do to others. And so love is this virtue. 1 Corinthians 13, when He goes through all of these signed gifts and these outward gifts, He comes to the end of chapter 13 and He says, And now about it, faith, hope, love, but the greatest of these is love. Why? Because it's a matter of the heart. It's a matter of the heart. It's what drives us. If you can get your heart... Do you remember Jesus Christ said where your heart is, there your mind and body is going to be also, right? If you lay up treasures in heaven, guess what? Your mind and your body is going to be focused on heaven. If you lay up treasures on earth, guess what? Your mind and your body is going to be focused on earth. And so He starts with the heart. He says, I'm praying for you guys. I know that you are saved. I know that you have given your life to Jesus Christ, but I pray that you will grow in Jesus Christ and I want your heart. I want you to love one another. In Philippians 2, that later on we'll look at, He says, fulfill you My joy that you be like Mine that having the same love, being of one accord and one mind. Notice the love comes before the unity of the body and before the mind that is there. 1 John 4, verse 16 says, And you have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in Him. Paul is praying here for God to give the people at Philippi love in their heart. This word love is the agape love. It's agape. It's not a human love. It's not an object attraction. It's not a sentimental love that we think of today. It's not an emotional love. A feeling-based love. Or even an emotional love. The world says, I love you because you do something to me or for me, right? I will love you as long as you do for me. The world says, I love you because I feel something for you. I'm emotional towards you. This is not the love by choice. Agape is a love of choice. It's a love of the wheel. The love of an unconditional love of the Father. When we talk about agape love, we're talking about a divine love. A love that originated with God. That was performed in Jesus Christ. That is given to us through the Holy Spirit. So the whole Trinity comes together to give us and produce love in our mind. It is a love of choice. It is a love of wheel. It is an unconditional love because it is a sacrificial love. For God so loved the world that He gave. Who did He die for? The world. In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. It was a sacrificing love. It was an unconditional love. He didn't die because we were so good. He didn't die because we were great. He died because He loves us. Philippians 1, back in verse 9, he says, "...in this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more." That your love may abound yet more and more. Notice that phrase, more and more. We know that the Philippians, according to chapter 1 and verse 1, they were saved. He said they were servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Jesus Christ. To be a saint, you have to be saved. You can't be a saint without salvation. So we know that these believers were saved. They've already received salvation. God's love is already in their heart. But Paul was not praying that they would receive His love. What Paul was praying is that their love would abound. Their lives would abound in this love. This divine love that comes from Jesus Christ. Paul wants them to have a greater expression of love. When you look at that word, more and more, in 1 John 3, verse 14, it says, "...we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." See, what is the proof of our salvation? How do we prove to somebody something that has taken place inwardly? How do we prove that to someone else? Through love. Well, by your love, they shall know Me. And this is our greatest virtue. And this is what Jesus said in John 13, verse 34. A new commandment I give unto you that you what? Love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another by this, the proof of your salvation, the proof that you love Jesus Christ because He loved you first, is that you know that My disciples, if you have love, one to another. And so He mentions the word that it may be abound yet more and more. He wants their love to abound. When you look up that word abound, it's a pretty cool word because it literally means to overflow. It means from wave after wave. Have you ever been to the ocean? And you go and you step out there a little bit, and all of a sudden, the waves start knocking at you, right? And if you get too far, what happens? Once them waves sweep you off of your feet, guess what? You are just kind of caught up because they never stop. They keep coming. That's this idea. It's also the idea of a cascading waterfall. Have you ever been to Niagara Falls and seen the power of the water as it comes over that fall? It never stops. It never closes off. It is continually, it doesn't matter what day of the week, what hour of the day that you go and see it, it is always cascading over the edge. That's this word abound. Wave after wave after wave. This idea of a waterfall as it continues to fall. A love that is more and more. And since it's a love of the will, and it's a love of the choice, you have to work to increase your love. It doesn't just happen. You have to work. Ephesians 5 and verse 1, Paul told the church at Ephesus, Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and hath given Himself for us in offering and in sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. How do we work at love? We do it sacrificially. We love sacrificially. See, love should cost you something. Love costs Jesus Christ His life. That's sacrificial love. There's two specific dynamics that Paul is looking at. Notice what he says in verse 9. He wants us to wave over wave this cascading waterfall. He says I want this love to abound more and more in what? Knowledge. Knowledge. So there's a focus to where our love is. And he mentions this word knowledge. How does Scripture, how does the knowledge of Scripture and knowledge of the Word of God regulate our love? See, I think that's why a lot of love is lacked in Christianity is because we're not studying like we ought to. And so how does the Scripture regulate our love? How many of you ever heard somebody say, well, I tried to love them. Right? I tried to love them. Man, but they're so one kind to me. I just cannot love them. That person is unlovable. You ever heard somebody say that? You look at Scripture, what does Scripture say? Scripture tells us to love our enemies. Right? So that love is confined to the knowledge of the Scripture. And so when we love, we have to love according to knowledge. It's not love based on a feeling or what they're doing for us. It is loving even our enemies. And so love is controlled by Scripture. When you have love that is controlled by Scripture, listen, there is no fornication. There is no adultery. It's not feelings. It's not out of control. Rather, it is an agape love. It is under control. It is a choice. It is a will. It is controlled by the truth of God. And Peter summarizes it this way in his first letter in 1.22, saying, you have purified your souls in obeying the truth of the Spirit unto unfeigned love. What is unfeigned love? It's a love without hypocrisy. The Word of God, there's no hypocrisy to it. And so our love should be controlled by our knowledge of the Word of God. And Peter says this purification of our soul allows us to have a genuine, honest, non-hypocritical love for other people. In other words, we love people as Christ loved people. He wasn't hypocritical toward them. But he says not only to learn more and more in knowledge, but also in all judgment. What do we mean by judgment? Judging has to do with discernment. You know what discernment is? To be able to discern between good and bad, evil and righteousness. Judging has to do with discerning. And this Word has to do with our insight and our perception into something. And under the boundaries of truth, under the boundaries of the Word of God, it has to do with moral perception and moral insight. It's the application of that love being controlled by the knowledge of Scripture. And so what it does is biblical love is very insightful. Biblical love is very perceptive. It knows exactly what is right. And it knows exactly what is wrong, what is false, and what is true. Therefore, Paul says, I pray that your love is like a cascading waterfall, wave upon wave, in knowledge it will make the right application at the right moment in life. But then it will also give you the ability to discriminate and to perceive the way that that love. Paul is talking about biblical discriminating love. But that love is under what? It is under the control of a spiritual mind, spiritual reasoning, a wise, judicious love. William Hendrickson gives this example. He says, a person who possesses love, but lacks discernment, may reveal a great deal of eagerness and enthusiasm. He may donate to all kinds of causes. His motives may be worthy and his intentions honorable, yet he may be doing more harm than he is good. And so he tells us in this discernment, this need for love, you know, I am amazed at how many well-meaning people trying to show the love of God, give money to people who are totally in direct contradiction of the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We support a lot of things in this world that are contrary. See, true love that is biblical-based has the discernment. Jesus Christ said if they're preaching a false Gospel, He said don't even dig them God's feet, much less dig into your pocketbooks and help support their ministry, right? And so that's what this discernment is. And what we're seeing today is this problem in society because everybody is supposed to love, right? So love cannot discriminate, right? So therefore, if you love me, you have to accept me as a homosexual or whatever. No, I don't. I love you, but guess what? Jesus Christ loves you too, but He died because of your sins. And so therefore, He said you must repent. Right? And so we can love the sinner, but not accept the sins. That's discernment. I am not to participate or help you every single individual. Love has discernment on how we are going to do this. And so Paul is praying that as a church, which is made up of individuals, each one of us that need to reach out beyond our confinements and work to show love to all those who come into our path, no matter what the risk might be, see, love trusts God for the reward. It's a selfless humility meeting the needs of others no matter who they are and no matter what they might need. Everything in our Christian life must begin with the foundation of love. Our heart has to be pulled in the right direction. When our love is correct, then guess what? Then we will be able to improve excellence. And notice this is a sequence that he's given here. If you love properly, you will prove excellent. You will know what is right. And then, you'll get what? You'll bear fruit. You'll bear fruit. And so there's this process that takes place. Look at v. 10. That you may approve things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. That ye may approve things is a sincere and without offense till the day of Christ is a link to sequence. In other words, this is a sequence that is happening. Love, excellence, and then the fruit that is there. He mentions specifically that we approve things that are excellent. It's the word that was classically used for analyzing metal to determine its properties and its purities. It's also used of testing money to be sure that it wasn't counterfeit. And so if our love is guided by the Word of God and gives us right discernment, then and only then will we be able to approve the things that are most excellent. In other words, He's giving us this deal between good and best. Right? So many Christians today, we're satisfied with just the good. We're satisfied with just the bare essentials. But what Paul is saying is I want you, because of love, it's wave after wave, this cascading deal, I want it to abound more and more in your life, that you begin to say no to the good things of life, and yes to the more excellent things. You see, He goes from His heart to His mind. To your mind. To approve things in your mind. What does Romans 12 and verse 2 say? Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed, how? By the renewing of your mind, that you may what? Prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. Going from what is good to what is the perfect will of God. So many people want to jump to the perfect will of God, right? Preacher, I can't find God's specific will in my life. Well, guess what? Start doing what you do know. Start allowing your mind to focus. Read the Bible. Pray. Witness. Do what you do know, and as you are doing this, guess what? You are showing love to people, right? You're living for Jesus Christ because you're learning about Jesus Christ. You're discerning about Jesus Christ. And when you look at that homosexual, you're not looking at their sin, you're looking at their heart, and what? They're one that needs Jesus Christ. They need repentance. So you make the right discernment. And so guess what? It's not what's good in your life, it's what's excellent. What does God desire for you to have? In Philippians 4 and verse 8, when He concludes this letter, He says, Finally, brethren... That means conclusion, but He's like a Baptist preacher. That's how I know Paul was Baptist, because he didn't just stop there. But he started his concluding matters here. And he says, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, what does it say? Think on these things. You know, I've been telling Daniel for years, you cannot do two things at the same time. And finally, I was watching the morning news this week and they had a scientist that came on and said it is scientifically proven you cannot do two things at one time. What we actually do is our brain rapidly swaps between tasks. So you can watch TV, right? But you can also be reading the paper, right? But you're not actually doing two things at once. Your brain is switching back and forth rapidly and you're getting a little bit of both of them. And you say, how do you know that? How many of you had a wife that come up to you during a TV program or something going on and tell you something and then ask you about it the next day and you say, when did you tell me that? Right? And during that fast switching of our brain, guess what? We tuned them out and we caught the TV, right? You can't think on two things. And so Paul says what? He says think on the things that are true. If you're thinking on things that are true, your mind is incapable of thinking on things that are untrue. And so focus your mind where? On the things of Jesus Christ. Why? Because we want to abound in excellence. We want to approve the things that are good. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 21, Paul tells us to prove all things. Prove all things. And then look what he tells us. Every situation, every circumstance that comes up into our life, we ought to have discernment of love and we ought to be abounding in excellence, understanding what is excellent, so that we can do what? Prove that which is good and what's bad. And when we prove what is good, what did he say to do that? He says to hold fast. When you find something good in life, don't let that go. On the other side of that, guess what? If you discern something as bad, what should you do with that? Let it go. But we typically do what? We typically hold on to what is bad and let go of what is good that comes through the discernment. So look back at verse 10. He said that you may approve things that are excellent. Approve things. Know what is good from best. It's not my job as a pastor to help you lead a good life. It's my job as a pastor to help you live an excellent life. Jesus Christ said I didn't just come to give life. I came to give life more abundantly. Right? And so we're not to settle for good. We're shooting for Jesus Christ. And guess what? If I come up a little short of reaching that, then guess what? I'm a whole lot better off if I'm not aiming for that to begin with. Because when I come up short of what I'm aiming for, guess what? I could be completely off of the target and be absolutely no good. So we pick out what our target is, our bullseye. Jesus Christ. And then He says to be sincere. Approving excellence is sincerity. It means to be genuine. And literally, this word means without wax. And as I began to research this word sincere, it's pretty cool. I never knew this before, but as I researched this word out this week, how many of you have watched somebody make pottery? I love watching the potter at Eureka Springs. You know, he'll sit there at Silver Dollar City. I love watching the potter and everything. When they take that clay and they make their pot or whatever, what do they do after they make it? They put it in the oven. And they bake it. What happens every once in a while during the baking process as it dries out and as it gets hard? If there is a flaw anywhere in that clay, guess what? It's going to crack. And this word, to be sincere, literally means wax. And it was used in the days of pottery when they would invest all of this money in this material. They would invest this money in these glaze and the colors. They would get everything ready. They would get everything prepared. All of it's already invested into that and then they put it into the fire to bake it and guess what? A crack shows up. So you know what they would do? They would go and get some wax. And they would take that wax and they would push it into the cracks. And they would hide the cracks. And when the people come down to the market, you know how they compel between a fake and a real thing? They would take the fake and hold it up to the sun. And when you put the fake up to the sun, you know what happened? It looked through the wax to reveal the crack. You tracking with me now on this word sincere? And he says that I wish that you was approving excellence first in sincerity. How many Christians do we have sitting here this morning in our sanctuary that have come to church this morning putting wax over your cracks? Thinking that nobody knows what's going on in my life. Nobody understands the struggles that I'm having. Nobody understands my brokenness. Nobody understands what I'm going through, but guess what? All of a sudden, when you get lifted up into the light of Jesus Christ, guess what begins to happen? When things get tough, when the crisis hits, when things all of a sudden turn not the way that we want, what happens? All of a sudden, that wax begins to show up. You remember back just a couple of years ago to COVID? You remember a lot of cracks began to show up. People that thought they were committed to God, guess what? Well, there's a disease involved or there's a risk to my life, and you know what? Maybe we're not as committed. And so that's what this word means is to be sincere. But then notice what else. Sincerity deals with our personal responsibilities. He says He wants us to approve excellence first by looking at ourself. Our personal responsibility. Which kind of reminds me of a parable that Jesus Christ told one time, right? Where He said, first of all, remove the speck that is in your eye, and then you can do what? Once you get yourself right and sincere, then you can deal with somebody else. And that's what He does here. He says, first of all, approve that as excellence and to be sincere without any cracks. We're open. We're honest. Guess what? We are all sinners saved by grace. Not one of us is perfect. Not one of us has everything figured out. Guess what? I don't either. I'm your pastor. And I do not have things all figured out. I went to the hospital yesterday and prayed with a young 17 year old and her parents that she don't know if she's going to live. She don't know if she's going to die. She don't know if she's going to have any use of her limbs or body. She's got brain damage. She's on a vent right now. They don't know what. They said the next two weeks is going to tell. And you stand there and you pray and you can't help but ask why for somebody that has their whole life before them, right? But it's not for me to question. It's not for me to question. And so He says to be sincere, but then look at what He says. Without offense. Without offense. See, this has to do with relational. This has to do with our relationship. Approving things in other people's lives. You don't need to be meddling in other people's lives until you've found the cracks in your life, right? Until you've fixed what's broken in your life. Then you can go, and that's what He's talking about with this offense. Defense literally means to be blameless. Not causing others to stumble. We are to be very, very cautious how we live, how we portray ourselves, so that easily be seen in the ones that we have influence over, our children and our close friends. You may do good keeping your cracks hidden with wax. But guess what? It shows up in those that you're closest with. Right? I've said this, and now this is a generic statement. Please don't take this, but in the last 15-20 years, we're starting to lose a generation of people in church, right? And what's beginning to happen is guess what? A lot of it is their fault. They have a personal choice. But a lot of it, if we're honest with ourselves, it comes back to the reflection of the parents. And the cracks that were in our life, they saw every single day. The cracks that we thought we were hiding, guess what, was being exposed in our homes with our close friends. And guess what? When it came a time and opportunity for them to make the choice about Jesus Christ in their faith, they didn't see it lived and exhibited in our life. And so what happened? They gave up and they walked away. And so that's what he's talking about here. We need to make sure that we live because those that are closest to us are going to be influenced the greatest. They're going to know if you're real or not. Not perfect. Not without sin, but real. I mean, how many times do I remember, and my dad will probably listen to this sermon later on, but how many times have I got up on Sunday morning and listened to my parents argue and fight, and my dad being a pastor, then all of a sudden walks in church and it's all about Jesus and shaking hands, right? And man, we love Jesus and everything else. Well, how in the world can you love Jesus when you just chewed mama out because she didn't have your shirt ironed for church this morning, right? What happened? The realness, the crack was felt at home. Right? He says he loves Jesus, but he don't even love in the home. And see, so the realness. But fortunately, I had a dad that was real that went with this. And so the question that gets to be asked is God really number one in your life? Are you really committed wholeheartedly to God? You know, it's hard to make decisions and say I love God, but then we choose vacations. We choose hobbies. We choose other things instead of bringing to God's house. Man, Lisa was talking this morning. If you look back at the church 50 years ago and look at the church today, how different is it? And we was talking about obvious stuff. You know, like dress. You used to think people want to give their very best and dress a certain way, right? And now it's just like we come as we are and everything. And it's not that dress even matters. It's not that important. But here's what it does show. If you start giving a little bit, the people and stuff will go even further. And that's why Paul says, guess what? We need to quit approving things that are good and we need to start striving for excellence so that we don't have any cracks that we're trying to hide and cover up. And guess what? We're relating to the next generation because, folks, we're losing the next generation. And we've got to stand up and take part of that that comes with repentance. James 4.4 says you adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? You can't love this world and love God at the same time. It's impossible. Just like you can't think on two things at the same time. It's impossible. How does all of this happen? Let me give you real quick, and we're just about out of time, but we're going to wrap it up real quick. Let me give you six steps to how this happens. Number one is accommodation. We tolerate something. Look at our TV. Let's use something that may not be as offensive as our own families. Let's look a little bit outward today. Look back 40 years ago at the TV shows that we watched and then what began to happen? We slowly began to accommodate stuff, right? We slowly started letting it happen into our life. And then what do we do? We legitimize it. This is the normal, right? How many people have I said when they tell you, I went to watch that movie, I can't believe you watched that movie. Well, you know, it's the best we've got nowadays, right? So if it's the best we've got, then let's lower our morals. Let's accommodate whatever Hollywood wants to feed us because there's just nothing clean or nothing good out there to watch, and so I'm just going to watch whatever. But then we begin to assimilate it. We cooperate by never saying anything about it. That's kind of where we are in this homosexual deal today because every family, every family is affected now some way with homosexuality. A niece, a nephew, a son, a daughter, a grandchild. Every one of us. And so what do we do? We want to hold peace, so we just cooperate. We're not going to say anything about it. They know that I'm a Christian and I believe it's wrong, and so we're just going to go with the flow, right? And not push any waters or anything. Well, then guess what happens when we assimilate? Then we begin to participate. By not saying anything, by not doing anything, then guess what? We participate. We personally get involved in attitudes and actions. And then we merge. All of a sudden, we come to the point where their values and our values come together. And then the last step is identification when there's absolutely no difference. There's no difference. We're acting and doing just like the world. See, compromise is very, very subtle. Compromise doesn't happen instantaneously. You just don't walk out there and say, man, that's just evil and I'm not going to have nothing to do with it. Compromise happens a little bit at a little time. And before we even realize that it's happening, its influence is accepted quicker with those that are close to us. And what we begin to accept, the next generation grabs even quicker. And the next generation grabs even quicker. You remember when Adam and Eve sinned? Go back and read Genesis 3. They sinned and what began to happen? The next chapter, there was a murder. A brother murdered his brother. And then you go to the next chapter and what happens? It gives all of these genealogies. So-and-so lived this many years. He beget these sons, these daughters, right? And then what? He died. And you come to chapter 6, verse 1 and what? It says, "...immediately the sons of God began to marry the daughters of men." And all of a sudden, what began to happen? A rapid, very fast decline. Because when those that are righteous start compromising, the next generations begin to fall even quicker. And it happens before you even realize it or know it. Love, listen to me, love produces excellence. It approves the things that are excellent if you truly love. And then what happens? Because now you're accepting and approving things that are excellent, guess what? Now you are abundant in the fruits of righteousness. Now you are a bearing fruit. Listen, he says in Philippians 11, "...been filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto glory and praise forever." Now notice something that is there. He says, "...I pray that your love may abound." You have love, but it needs to be greater. He says, I want you to approve things that are excellent. In other words, as you are going through life, as you are loving, when things come up, when decisions have to be made, I want you to choose the most excellent. But now look, he changes tenses when it comes to verse 7. He all of a sudden uses, "...been filled." It's in the past tense, but it has present effects. That's what he's doing here. And notice, what is it? You are being filled. It's an outward result of what? Fruit. What kind of fruit? Fruits of righteousness. What is righteousness? It's our holiness before God, right? It's our standing before God. It has to do with our works that are there. And he says, "...being filled happened in the past, but it has continuing results." This is the summation of the Christian life. Now you go back to verse 5 and 6, and what did Paul say? He says in verse 3, "...I thank my God upon remembrance of You always at every prayer of mine at all, making requests with joy for Your fellowship of the gospel." Right? You started. This was in the past. And then he says, "...being confident of this very thing, that He which began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." It's happened. It's there. But not every Christian is producing fruit, are they? Because not every Christian is abounding in love. Not every Christian is acknowledging, approving excellence. And so he says, "...being filled with the fruits of the Spirit." And so when you think about that, James 3, verse 18 says, "...the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." What do you know about sowing and reaping? How many of you are planting a garden right now? What do you do? You first of all sow seeds, right? Do they just automatically jump up and you bear fruit? No, you're sowing looking for what? I planted my peach trees five years ago, and they're just now finally beginning to do what? Produce fruit. But I planted them with the aspect of what? That one day they're going to bear fruit. One of these days, my wife is going to be able to sit down and make me a big old thing of homemade peach ice cream, right? From the peaches out of my own tree. That was the goal when it started, right? And that's now coming to fruition. That's what he's talking about with the Christian life. See, when we're saved, we are growing, and then all of a sudden what happens? We cannot produce fruit. You are impossible to produce fruit. I cannot produce a peach. No matter how hard I try, I cannot produce a peach. But you know what I can do? I can plant a peach tree. And it has the ability, so when Jesus Christ comes into us, then guess what? I don't have any ability to be good. Remember, Romans says there's none good, there's none that are righteousness. But what did he say here? He says, but because of Jesus Christ, we are filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are where? By Jesus Christ unto His glory and His praise. And so I want you to understand, you remember what Jesus Christ said in John 15? He told His disciples, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in Me will bear what? But fruit. In other words, first of all, you have to be attached to Jesus Christ. But then, guess what? You have to remain with Jesus Christ, right? You have to be fertilized. You have to take in the love of Jesus Christ. Abounding in love. And then what? Approving the things that are excellent. Making the right choices. As Jesus Christ gives us water. As Jesus Christ brings us fertilization. As Jesus Christ gives us sunshine. We have to take all of this and use it properly. And guess what? When we do that, then all of a sudden, we who are sinners are now saved by grace begin to do what? Bear much fruit. And here's the reason we bear fruit. The reason that we bear fruit is for what? Paul says it's by Jesus Christ unto the praise and the glory of God. See, it has nothing to do with me. I'm just a vine. I'm just a limb. Them limbs on my peach tree, they had to be attached to the trunk, the main thing in order to produce peaches. And as long as I'm attached to Jesus Christ, guess what? And so we go back to that foundation that we just looked at with Jesus Christ. Where are we as Christians going to stand? At the judgment seat of Christ. And we're going to be judged by our works. But Paul says if we're praying, if we're abounding in love, if we're making what is excellent, not only will we start bearing fruit now, but guess what? We'll have plenty of fruit when we get there. That's what he's saying. That's what he's telling. And so the question that I want you to ask, you see, this love of God is poured out into our hearts, and then it begins to abound in all of this insightful knowledge that is based on the Word of God. And it causes us to pursue excellence with our spiritual integrity, with principles in our life that generates a life of power through Jesus Christ that produces good works. Which all of a sudden begin to reverberate into God's glory and God's praise. Redeeming, transforming, God-worthy, eternal praise. That's our friend. People look at Donnie and say, man, God is working in his life. Amen? Because they know Donnie. And Donnie can't do that on his own, but man, look at what God's doing in his life. That's what God wants to do in your life. So is your heart right? Is love in your heart? Have you made up your mind in the knowledge of His Word? Is your life, your body pursuing excellence? If you're doing these things, then guess what? God is being praised through your life. The question is, is God really being praised in your life? When God looks at you, is He proud? Does He look at that fruit like I'm looking at my peaches and say, boy, I can't wait until they come to fruition, right? Or is He looking at your life and saying, man, we need to do some pruning. We need to get rid of this. This is terrible. Because guess what? Jesus Christ says that the husband of God is going to prune away all the limbs that are not bearing fruit. He's going to do the work on us. He's going to discipline. He's going to correct us. And we don't need to live in a life of correction. We need to be living life and life more abundantly. And it comes with repentance. So as we stand and we have this verse of invitation, I want to pray. Father, we just pray for today that the members here as Paul prayed for the church at Philippi, I want to pray for Kentucky this morning and each and every one of us here that we will abound in Your love. That we will always approve the things that are not just good, but the things that are excellent. That we might bear forth great fruit and bountiful fruit so that You receive the praise, You receive the glory, and all of the honor that You deserve because You first showed us love. Because You first chose the more excellent way than the easy way. And therefore, You cried on the cross, it is finished. And Your Father, receive the fruit of Your labors. And because of that, there's still people being saved today. Father, we want to have that impact on this world around us, and we can. But it starts with You. In Your most precious name we pray, amen. As we sing, page 413.