(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. I hope all of you had a good week in the Lord. As we begin our worship, we're gonna sing this first song. It is good to praise the Lord. It truly is that we're gathered together as the corporate body of Christ, that we have this ability and this privilege to sing these songs and to honor our God.

(soft piano music) ♪ It is good to praise the Lord ♪ ♪ It is good to gaze upon His majesty ♪ ♪ To proclaim His love in the morning ♪ ♪ And His faithfulness at night ♪ ♪ Oh, it is good to worship and praise the Lord ♪ ♪ To worship and praise the Lord ♪ One more time, it is good.

♪ It is good to praise the Lord ♪ ♪ It is good to gaze upon His majesty ♪ ♪ To proclaim His love in the morning ♪ ♪ And His faithfulness at night ♪ ♪ Oh, it is good to worship and praise ♪ ♪ Oh, it is good to worship and praise ♪ ♪ Oh, it is good to worship and praise the Lord ♪ - Well, good morning, church family.

Welcome to Berean Community Church, for you guys who are here for the first time or visiting. If you are in the process of looking for a church and you wanna check out Berean and find out more about it, we do have a welcome table. You passed it on the way in under the blue canopy, and you can find out more information about the church.

And there is a lunch for you, if you are new, on July 30th, where all the leaders will be there and just a good number of our church members will be there to just answer any questions and you can find out more about the church on July 30th at our welcome lunch.

I do have a few announcements. This summer, between July 19th to August 9th, if you are a brand new Christian or if you're not a believer but you're seeking, there is a group specifically designed for you to field any questions, to explore different answers and truths. And so you can find out more about that on our website.

For people who are in the family ministry, if you're married, you have a family, there's just an informal gathering at Bolsa Chica Beach on Saturday, this coming Saturday. The time says 10 to two, but it is a beach, so you can hang out there as long as you see fit.

And if you have any questions, you could sign up, contact the people there as well. If you're a member of the church, we have a mandatory important members meeting next Sunday at 1.30 p.m. And we will introduce our new members and we'll find out a little bit more about the upcoming retreat in a month, amongst other things.

So please do keep that in mind. I do want to welcome our Korea team back. They've been gone for three weeks. (audience applauding) And they arrived probably around midnight last night in Orange County, or like today. And so they're probably, if they have a glow, and if they look sleepy, that's probably them.

Okay, but they will share a little bit over the course of the next couple weeks. And we just finished our VBS, so all of you who've helped out at that, thank you very much. We had about 105 students at the VBS, so we had 130-something volunteers, which means our children were really well loved upon.

And so I believe it to be just a very fruitful time. And so thank you for praying, for those of you guys who prayed with us. We're gonna take a time of offering, and if you have a physical offering, we have a box in the back for you. You can drop it off at your convenience.

Otherwise, you can just give an offering electronically via our Zelle. After our offering and after our time of musical worship, our brother Miguel is gonna come up, share his testimony, and then be baptized. So let's pray together. Father, it is just a wonderful joy to gather together as the family of Christ here on Sunday.

And Lord, we acknowledge this morning that we're here to celebrate you. We're here to worship you. We're here to hear from you and respond appropriately in a way that magnifies you. And so we pray that you would feed us, you would bless us, cause us to leave here having given, just worship that is given in spirit and in truth.

And Lord, we bring our offerings just to say thank you. And Lord, give us wisdom to steward our money, our resources, our time, our opportunities, and even all the people that are in our lives. Help us to steward them well for your glory and for our joy. So we thank you, God, for this morning.

We pray this in Jesus' name. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Let's all rise together as we sing these songs to our God. (soft piano music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Here's love ♪ ♪ Here is love as fast as the ocean ♪ ♪ Loving kindness as the flood ♪ ♪ When the prince of life our ransom ♪ ♪ Shed for us his precious blood ♪ One more time, here's love.

♪ Here is love as fast as the ocean ♪ ♪ Loving kindness as the flood ♪ ♪ When the prince of life our ransom ♪ ♪ Shed for us his precious blood ♪ ♪ Who is love will not remember ♪ ♪ Who can feast to sing his praise ♪ ♪ He can never be forgotten ♪ ♪ Throughout heaven's eternal day ♪ On the mount of crucifixion.

♪ On the mount of crucifixion ♪ ♪ Fountains open deep and wide ♪ ♪ Through the floodgates of God's mercy ♪ ♪ Lord of us and gracious kind ♪ ♪ Grace and love like mighty rivers ♪ ♪ Poured incessant from above ♪ ♪ Heaven's peace and perfect justice ♪ ♪ Kissed the guilty world in love ♪ Here is love.

♪ Here is love that conquered evil ♪ ♪ Christ the first born from the grave ♪ ♪ Death has failed to be found equal ♪ ♪ In the life of him who sins ♪ ♪ In the valley of our darkness ♪ ♪ Dawned his everlasting life ♪ ♪ Perfect loving for its radiance ♪ ♪ Has repelled the fellish child ♪ Sing it, no love is higher.

♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is deeper ♪ ♪ No love is truer ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is like your love, O Lord ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is deeper ♪ ♪ No love is truer ♪ ♪ No love is higher ♪ ♪ No love is wider ♪ ♪ No love is like your love, O Lord ♪ ♪ Here is love vast as the heavens ♪ ♪ Countless as the stars above ♪ ♪ Are the souls that he has ransomed ♪ ♪ Precious daughters, treasured sons ♪ ♪ We are called to peace forever ♪ ♪ On a love beyond our time ♪ ♪ Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit ♪ ♪ Now with men are intertwined ♪ Amen.

♪ Your love, O Lord ♪ ♪ Reaches to the heavens ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Stretches to the sky ♪ ♪ Your righteousness ♪ ♪ Is like the mighty mountain ♪ ♪ Your justice flows ♪ ♪ Like the oceans down ♪ One more time, your love. ♪ Your love, O Lord ♪ ♪ Reaches to the heavens ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Stretches to the sky ♪ That's your righteousness.

♪ Your righteousness ♪ ♪ Is like the mighty mountain ♪ ♪ Your justice flows ♪ ♪ Like the oceans down ♪ ♪ I will lift my high voice ♪ ♪ To worship you, my King ♪ ♪ I will find my high strength ♪ ♪ In the shadow of your wings ♪ ♪ Your love, O Lord ♪ ♪ Your love, O Lord ♪ ♪ Reaches to the heavens ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Stretches to the sky ♪ ♪ Your righteousness ♪ ♪ Is like the mighty mountain ♪ ♪ Your justice flows ♪ ♪ Like the oceans down ♪ ♪ I will lift my high voice ♪ ♪ To worship you, my King ♪ ♪ I will find my high strength ♪ ♪ In the shadow of your wings ♪ ♪ Your love, O Lord ♪ ♪ Reaches to the heavens ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Stretches to the sky ♪ Amen, you may be seated.

(bell tolling) - Good morning, everyone. My name is Miguel, and this is my testimony. When I began college, I was a very bitter and anxious person. My bitterness came from placing my trust on a pedestal. Having felt betrayed in the past, I only trusted those who I felt worthy of having my trust, and deep down I had hate for the ones that hardened me.

I couldn't let go of the grudges in my heart, and I hated myself for it. As for my anxiety, it came from not knowing what I was going to do in the years to come. I remember overthinking specifically about my identity, not being able to understand who or what I was.

Some days I thought I was a loser. Other days I gained confidence and walked around with a puffed-up chest. The labels I gave myself-- sorry--the labels I gave myself were constantly changing, always fluctuating inside. I couldn't help but notice the lack of structure in my life, and I hated myself for that too.

My life had no foundation, and quickly I became envious of those whose lives seemed like smooth sailing. I was quick to compare my life with theirs and noticed all the things others had that were not in my life. Social media was also showing the lifestyle that I believed I was missing out on.

So my worldly desires and my fear of missing out led me to chase treasures on Earth. I began a journey of seeking my own pleasures, trying to find ways to make me happy by my own rules. I trusted my thoughts and I followed my heart. I was too prideful and arrogant to see the damage I caused to those around me.

I acted on my compulsion, going to parties when I felt like it, getting drunk or high when I wanted to. At this point, my identity was placed in the things of the world. I was drawn by crowds and seeking worldly benefits. I placed my belief in the things of the world, and my ideals were built in sand.

And soon I would find out that they would all fall apart. When I was away from all the pleasures I was seeking and alone with my sober thoughts, the bitterness and anxiety caught up with me with an even greater impact than before. Nothing filled the void in my heart, and I was confused, feeling completely lost and alone.

I saw no direction, no purpose, and my life to me was colorless. In my ignorance, I continued to chase the world, thinking that it was bound to be satisfying. I continued this way until the end of my sophomore year. In this process, I brought lots of stress to my parents, and deep down I knew I was causing harm with my selfishness.

But during the summer of last year, I was heartbroken and depressed. It was the most emptiness I had probably felt. I saw no end to my negative thoughts, and I almost came to conclude that I would live my life like this until death. Deep down, I still had hope for an answer, but I had no clue what it was.

A few months went by, and I was still too prideful to accept that I was broken inside. In my search for an answer, I was eventually led to read a Bible I had. I didn't think much of it. I had thought the Bible was outdated and that we as humans evolved to a more modern mindset.

This was false, and in time I came to find out that my understanding was far from the truth. I started reading the Word, and I was having trouble extracting the messages. But within two weeks, by God's grace, I met a stranger. My conversations with the stranger went into some oddly deep talks, but I sensed genuine intentions from him.

This stranger, now a beloved brother, invited me to a large group on campus where they went over the first epistle of John. It was the first time that someone explained God's love for His children and the joy that comes from that, and how His children rejoiced in His promises.

It was the first time I saw the chains of sin cuffed onto me as well. 1 John 2, verses 9-11, and verses 15-17 say, "The one who says he is in the light, "and yet hates his brother, is in darkness until now. "The one who loves his brother abides in the light, "and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

"But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness "and walks in the darkness, "and does not know where he is going "because the darkness has blinded his eyes. "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. "If anyone loves the world, "the love of the Father is not in him.

"For all that is in the world, "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, "and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, "but is from the world. "The world is passing away, and also its lust. "But the one who does the will of God lives forever." In these few verses, my entire reality was explained.

The emptiness and ambiguity of my life was caused because of my hate in my heart, the pride that I waived carelessly, my love for the world, and much more. I was in complete darkness when the word of God restored me with hope. I wanted to know God and understand who he was from there on out.

That same weekend, I attended Berean for the first time. I was welcomed with warm greetings and smiles, and there was a sense of genuine intention when I spoke to the brothers and sisters. A brother came up to me, and at the end of our conversation, he encouraged me to read Romans.

As I read through the weeks to come, I came across Romans 7.23. I see a different law in the members of my body, waging wars against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members. In reading this, I understood that God always knew that there was a war in my body.

He knew I would sin. He knew that sin separated me from his love. He knew all these things before I ever existed. He understood my weakness. He came to my rescue. I came to understand that God's love is unselfish, it's righteous, and it's beautiful. God sought in my heart, and he taught me how to love.

And in receiving Christ, I am set free from the chains of sin. When all my hope was close to God, Christ restored it, and he added color to my life. He has given me a new life, and his promises bring joy. His foundation never fails, and he will always be my light.

Thank you. >> Thank you for the testimony. You understand that when you go into the water, you're being united with Christ in his death, and when you come out of the water, you're being united with him in his resurrection so that you can walk in newness and light. >> I do.

>> I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. >> It's a very encouraging and real testimony. Praise God for that. If you guys have your Bibles, please turn with me to the book of Philippians, and we're going to be in Philippians for the bulk of the morning.

And so Philippians chapter 1, verses 9 to 11, and let me go ahead and read that for us, and then we'll ask the Lord to feed his sheep. Philippians 1, 9 to 11. "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.

Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory of God and praise of God." Let's pray together. Father, we ask for you to minister through your word this morning that you would feed us, and that Christ would be exalted, and that we would leave here understanding a little bit more of your heart for your own glory, your compassionate broken heart for us.

And I pray, Father, that you would really grow your people through this time. We entrust it into your care, and we pray all this in Jesus' name, amen. If I were to say the words "honeymoon phase," most of us in this room would understand the meaning. A honeymoon phase or a honeymoon period usually refers to like a very happy beginning period in a couple's relationship where everything is good, where everything is fresh and fun, and the other person in the relationship can seemingly do no wrong.

And it's hard to find anything to be unhappy about in the honeymoon phase. And a honeymoon phase is generally meant as a good thing. It's a wonderful time and a beautiful period. And it's not just limited to romantic relationships, right? A honeymoon phase is also used by people to describe how happy they are at their new jobs, at new settings, or other new situations.

And I've actually heard it also being used to say, "Oh, like I'm really enjoying the church." It's like a honeymoon. And the honeymoon phase is often the happiest phase, and it's at the height. And this height is at the very beginning. And we implicitly know that because the honeymoon is at such heights from the very get-go, it's usually just all downhill from there.

And I'm sure you've also heard the phrase, "The honeymoon is over." Things are no longer as good, and this means that now flaws are highlighted, weaknesses are more glaring, imperfections are more noticeable. And discontentment in varying degrees starts to creep in. So the "Honeymoon is over" statement usually means that a person has come down from the clouds and is now living in reality.

And in most of our minds, the word "reality" usually has negative connotations. And both consciously and subconsciously, every single person, Christian and non-Christian, knows that we all live in a sin-corrupted and a very broken reality. And we are surrounded by imperfection, and we are surrounded by ugliness. Life's default settings are imperfection and ugliness.

And sin, the Christian knows, ruins and destroys everything, especially everything that we celebrate as a good gift from God. And we all live in this very tainted, broken, and ugly world. And we aren't just surrounded by brokenness, we are broken. We've been damaged and impaired. And because of that, one of the greatest tragedies of the fall of man is that pleasure and enjoyment and even the best of things and the best of blessings is always short-lived.

The best of feelings comes to an end. And you and I are experts at getting tired of things and then taking even the best of things for granted. And that, I believe, is a tragic result of the fall. So think of the last amazing meal that you've had, maybe at a Michelin restaurant, or just a wonderful vacation that you've gone on.

Are you still receiving pleasure from those experiences? Think of the last thing that you really wanted to own and that you saved for and that you purchased. Think of something that you once thought would be amazing to possess and now you have it. Is that excitement of possessing that thing still there?

Has the excitement increased over time? Probably not. In 2009, I saved up gift cards and I bought this cool thing called an iPod Touch. And I carried that and my flip phone around with me everywhere and I thought I was cool guy, right? And then I met someone with an iPhone 3.

I was like, "You don't have to carry two things." And I was dissatisfied from that point on. And eventually I got myself an iPhone 3 and I was happy with it in China until I saw someone with an iPhone 4. And you know how that goes. Even relationships are the same.

New friendships, new relationships are great. And I remember like the early days of dating when Becky called me on the phone, I would clear my throat actually before I answered. And I would give her my full undivided attention and I would try my best to keep her on the phone as long as I could.

And that was 2003. 20 years have passed. And for sure the affection has deepened but the thrill and the newness and the excitement admittedly is not the same. Don't judge me, all right? My wife was in first service. She heard it. She still loves me. She's fine. So even the best of things, the best of experiences, everything loses its luster over time.

And in our sin-corrupted flesh and in our sin-corrupted hearts, we have the inability to enjoy anything or anyone consistently for long term. And that's our reality. So it does seem like every honeymoon comes to an end. So in this kind of reality, is it possible for a love to not only grow but to abound and then to abound still more and more?

Husbands, I have a question for you. Does your love for your wife abound still more and more from your wedding day? Parents, has your love abounded still more and more for your children over time? We have a lot of new people at the church, and people are excited at the church, but there's a lot of us that have been here for a while.

So for you who've been here for a while, does your love for this church abound still more and more today? In your minds, there might be a little bit of an objection, and you have the word "deepen" in your head. But is abounding still more and more synonymous to deepen?

Because in this passage that we're reading today, it does not necessarily mean to deepen. And when we read a passage like Philippians 1, 9 to 11, we acknowledge it sounds nice. And because passages like this, they feel a little bit detached from our sin-tainted reality, so we just skim or gloss over it, and we discount it as being too idealistic.

And we may quickly and wrongly think that a passage like this of Scripture is not a passage that we can apply. And we may put it up on a frame, but we won't think to apply it to our lives. And when we see passages of Scripture that set the bar a little too high, or feel unattainable, or like too far removed from our reality, we will read it, but we can be left unchanged, unconvinced, and unfet.

So this morning, I want to spend some time in Philippians 1, 9 to 11 just digesting it together, looking at what it means, and thinking through how we can make application of it to the realities that we're currently in. And let me read the passage again for us. Philippians 1, 9 to 11, "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." And that's a mouthful.

It's one long sentence. But Philippians 1, 9 to 11 has been called one of Apostle Paul's richest and most outstanding prayers for his churches. And Paul isn't just being idealistic here, he is praying with expectation. He is praying for a Christian reality. And he is praying this in a real context, in a real setting, to a real congregation, to real, residually sin-tainted members.

And in this prayer, he communicates to the Philippian church that he's praying specifically for two things. And those two things are a little harder to discern in the English, because verses 9 to 11 just reads like one long run-on. But in the original language, you'll see that he prays for two things.

He prays for, one, an exponential increase in their love, and two, he prays for a perseverance in their holiness. And these two things are connected. So two components to Paul's prayer. One, an exponential increase in their love, and a perseverance in their holiness. So first he prays that not only that they love one another, but that their agape love will abound, and then abound still more and more.

So Paul prays for something supernatural here. He actually doesn't command this. He prays this. And he prays that God will not just help them preserve or maintain a status quo level of love, but rather that their love would increase and then abound still more and more. And that love is both rooted in and it spurs on holiness.

And that love moves its recipients toward greater holiness. So those are the two things that Paul is praying for in this one long run-on sentence, abounding love and persevering holiness. And there is a build-up and a moving towards the exaltation of Christ in this long prayer. But before I dive into the passage, I want to familiarize us a little bit with the Philippian church so we understand where our similarities actually are.

So the Philippian church was indeed a good church. It was a healthy church. And the epistle to the Philippians is one of Paul's most uplifting letters among all the epistles. But even in this healthy church, even though it was a healthy church, it wasn't free of conflict. And there were a few things happening internally in the church.

So first, for whatever the reason, there appears to have been some grumblers in the congregation, some minor tensions among the members. And we know this because Paul briefly addresses this in chapter 2, verses 14 to 15. "Do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent." And this is the second time the word "blameless" is found in Philippians.

The word "blameless," some of you may have caught this, was found in that prayer that I just read. "Holy people ought not to grumble," is what Paul is saying here. Secondly, in this church, two prominent women have become so embroiled in some sort of disagreement that Paul has to publicly call them out by name, Euodia and Swintike.

They're not bad women. They're not troublemakers. We are led to understand that they are both godly women who love the gospel, supported Paul's ministry, but it appears that something has caused them to be divided. Philippians 4, 2 to 3, "I urge, Euodia, and I urge Swintike, to live in harmony in the Lord.

Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel together with Clement, also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life." So there were things happening in the church. There were also real pressures and threats from outside as well.

As was typical in the climate of the times, those outside of the church were hostile toward the cause of Christ. And we glean as much from what Paul writes elsewhere in the letter. So first, the Philippian church was located in a very Roman and a very worldly society, and the surrounding secular people's gods were their stomachs.

So they lived for their appetite. And everything that these people did was for pleasure and they acted upon instinct. And of course, as is often the case, there were people also trying to distort the gospel of Christ with varying heresies. So in Philippi, one of these prominent groups were the men of the circumcision.

We know them better as the Judaizers. And they weren't the only ones threatening the church. Paul writes that the enemies of the cross of Christ were many. So we know that there's some drama inside the church. There were pressures coming from outside the church. And we know that when there's drama and brokenness and opposition, a cooling of love often happens.

Even at neutral, we wane, we drift, we lose interest. But when there's opposition, it kind of goes faster. Honeymoons end. Discontentment creeps in, and then reality sets in. So Paul prays this. Though it wasn't a perfect church, the Philippian church, nonetheless, was a healthy church and an already loving church.

It was a very generous church, a very missions-minded church. So the letter to the Philippians is actually a thank-you card of sorts from Paul because they had sent him gifts, almost at the risk of the death of one of their members. So for the most part, the Philippian church was a very united church.

So for this church, fully aware of all its imperfections, shortcomings, and challenges, Paul prays that godly love would not just increase and flow like a rising river, but that it would erupt and explode like a geyser. That's the feel of the wording. And this overflowing love would not just aimlessly gush and spout all over the place, but it was to be directed, focused, and targeted, hence this long, run-on sentence that we see in verse 9 through 11.

So there is a grammatical flow of thought there. And this overflowing, abounding love was to be rooted in Christ and routed toward Christ, who will one day come again in glory. So the rest of Philippians, it gives us some hedges in better understanding this abounding love. Everything about the Christian's love was to be Christ-centered before it was dispensed toward man.

Because compassion toward man without God is not love. So Christ-centered love, or the Christian love was to be Christ-centered before it was dispensed toward man. So verses 9 through 11 and its surrounding verses teach us that a Christ-centered, abounding love is rooted in Christ, filled with Christ until the day of Christ to the glory and praise of Christ.

I am saying Christ often here because Paul writes Christ often here in Philippians. If you look at just the opening 11 verses of Philippians, Christ Jesus is mentioned seven times. If you ever try to memorize a book, you're like, "Wow, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus." It's again and again. Seven times in the first 11 verses.

You can go ahead and count it at home if you have some time. The opening chapter of Philippians is extremely Christ-centric. In fact, the entire epistle to the Philippians is one of the most Christ-centric letters of all of Paul's letters. In the book of Philippians, you'll notice the words Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, Him, the Lord, repeated often.

There are 104 verses in Philippians, and I counted more than 52 mentions of Christ. So in more than every other verse in the letter, there is a mention of Jesus Christ. So love that honors God and love that is to abound still more and more is first Christ-centered. It is not produced through effort.

Abounding love is not produced by working harder. And remember, Paul prays this. He doesn't command it. Christ-centeredness produces abounding love. They go hand in hand. And we will learn this morning that an explosion, an exponential increase in the believer's Christ-centered love is not only possible, but it is to be expected and relentlessly pursued.

It is to be expected and pursued. A love of fellow Christians is evidence of saving faith. And our brother Miguel alluded to it. A love of fellow Christians is evidence of saving faith. 1 John 3, 14 says that if anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he's a liar.

And abounding love in you and me is not only to be expected, but to be relentlessly pursued as a characteristic of our lives. And Paul, according to the will of God, prays for this on behalf of the Philippians. And we can apply this prayer in our context today. That's a long introduction, and usually my introductions are a little shorter, but I needed to set it up.

So there's a flow to Paul's prayer. There's a flow to Paul's argument and his logic. There is a flow and a direction in this logic that is Christ-centered. And that flow is upstream and unnatural. The natural flow, remember, is that resolve weakens, love gets cold, and passions get numb.

But the supernatural flow is in the reverse. The natural, unchristian man cannot love in the way that Paul is praying. The natural man's love will never abound more and more, and there is no real knowledge, there is no discernment. The natural man is just a creature of instinct, as we've learned in both 2 Peter and Jude.

But on behalf of the spiritual man, Paul prays to the Lord. So we're going to be looking at the elements of this prayer and the flow of this Christ-centered love. First, a Christ-centered love is driven in a direction. It's driven. Secondly, a Christ-centered love is discerning. And we're going to be spending the bulk of our time on those first 2 points.

It's driven and it's discerning. Third, Christ-centered love is devout, verse 10. It's devout. Fourth, Christ-centered love is doxological, verse 11. It results in the glory and the praise of God. I actually had to just find a word that starts with D. But hopefully it helps you remember better. Christ-centered love is doxological.

It results in the glory and the praise of God. So here is the content of Paul's prayer. He first prays at the Philippian church, their members, that their love abounds still more and more in a particular direction. It is driven. And so I'm going to read verse 9 again.

I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment. So first point, a Christ-centered love is driven. And by the grace of God, it's to be driven and directed towards a real knowledge and all discernment. There are two words that are highlighted here.

The first is knowledge. A Christ-centered love is driven toward knowledge. It moves toward knowledge. The knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, of course, can be applied here, but I don't believe that that's what Paul is referring to. There are two words in the Greek for knowledge. Often in the Scriptures, the word for knowledge is oida, O-I-D-A, if you're taking notes.

And that usually refers to an intellectual knowledge gained through some kind of a study. It can also be used for like common sensical things of human experience. So in Philippians chapter 4, Paul writes that he oida knows how to get along with humble means, how to have an abundance.

He knows how to be content in every need and every situation, both in plenty and in want. That's oida. But here in chapter 1, verse 9, Paul uses the word epigonosis, which generally conveys the idea of a relational experiential knowledge. It is interactive and it's a personal knowledge. So I'm going to give you an example.

I oida know Billy Graham. I oida know John Piper, C.S. Lewis. But I epigonosis know Peter Kim, Nate Kwok, and Mark Lim, who's over there. You guys, are you understanding this? Okay. A Christ-centered love is driven toward an experiential full gnosis knowledge, but about what? And one of the reasons this verse doesn't stir us as it should is a lot of times we just read it without thinking through what this knowledge is.

So what is Paul praying about for us to know? And how is that related to an abounding love? And he's going to explain it in chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verse 7 to 11. But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of gnosis knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And I count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.

And I pay attention that I may gnosis know him and gnosis know the power of his resurrection and gnosis know the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Paul considers all of his academic and his religious accolades as rubbish.

Literally, it's like excrement. It's poop. It's dung. All of that on his resume, it's dung. What does Paul want to know? He wants to know Christ. He wants to know the power of Christ's resurrection. He wants to know the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. He wants to grow in the knowledge of Christ's humiliation and death.

He has academic oida knowledge. In fact, he pretty much has more oida knowledge than any of his readers. And he lists them in the previous verses in chapter 3. But what Paul is driven to know experientially is Christ. And what he's driven to know is Christ, the God who is love, and his sufferings which were compelled by that love.

Paul is zealous to gnosko know Christ who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even on a cross. And this is the Christ Paul wants to know, a mocked, bloodied, beaten, and hanging on the cross Messiah. The humility of God who became man, Paul wants to know. The perfect, sacrificial, pain-filled love of this perfect God is what Paul wants to know.

And he wants to understand the crucifixion and the suffering and the poverty of Christ. In verse 5, right before this, Paul exhorts the Philippians to want that same real knowledge, to have that same attitude of Christ's here. So this is not a deepening kind of a love, it is an emptying, a humiliating, and a sacrificial love.

This is the knowledge that's supposed to be rooted in and resulting from their love, an intimate knowledge of the humiliation of Christ. We cannot fully know the love of Christ without knowing the suffering and the intense loneliness of Christ. And this Christ-centered, Christ-saturated love is what Paul is praying that the Philippians abound in still more and more.

When we pursue knowing God and knowing His heart, love cannot but be produced. In fact, love is the very first fruit mentioned as evidence of the Spirit's work. But if we stop at only knowing a lot about God, pride puffs up. If we stop at only knowing a lot about God, we get embittered when we aren't appreciated or noticed, when we are disrespected or when we are disagreed with.

Do you really want to know God? Do you want others to know God? Or are you satisfied with only knowing a lot about Him? Because we cannot desire to know God and want to steer clear of any humiliation or daily cross-bearing. A wealth of simply knowing a lot about God cannot save us.

It will not change us. All honeymoons in religiosity or in churchianity, sooner or later, comes to an end. But the Christ-centered love of God will develop within us a longing which grows in intensity to understand the broken heart of God. And that love, it cannot but abound still more and more.

So the real knowledge that Paul is referring to is in Christ and in His humiliation and in His sufferings. It's the becoming like Christ in His death and in His emptying. It is not just a deepening of love. It's a sacrificial expending of it. A false religion will point to a Christ who will primarily free us only from this world's suffering.

It will point to a Christianity that promotes safety and comfort and pride in morality. But Paul says in Philippians 3.10 that the gospel he is proclaiming as good news, it's fixated more on the resurrection from this life and not just an improvement in this life. So our zeal has to be in knowing Him even and especially in the fellowship of His sufferings being conformed to His death.

It's not that appealing at first glance. The natural man is repulsed by this. And so Paul prays that the redeemed Christian not only has to pursue this knowledge but that he needs training. He needs all discernment. So in addition to this knowledge, a Christ-centered love is driven towards all discernment.

And that brings us to our second point. A Christ-centered love is discerning. Philippians 1.9-11. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent. So in addition to real knowledge, an element of the abounding of love ought also to produce like a wide net of discernment.

The word "all" is there in the Greek. The NIV kind of translates that as like the depth of insight, depth of discernment. So this word for discernment is unique. It's only found here in the New Testament. The King James Version translates it as like judgment. But it's a word that means not just a distinguishing between like wise and foolish, but more so between what is true and what is counterfeit.

It doesn't just mean discernment wisdom-wise. It's a discernment that enables a person to discern authenticity. And to help us understand this word, we actually have to look at verse 10, "to approve." So in the classical Greek, that word there for "approve" is usually used for the testing of a purity of metal, purity of coins, for their genuineness.

So it would be the modern-day equivalent of like checking for counterfeit bills. Now, I don't remember exactly who told me this, but I have heard that bill testers, like people who make money, people who produce bills, okay, they require a certain degree of training. But in their training, they don't worry too much about studying all the different kinds of counterfeits.

They spend the bulk of their time studying the real bills, so much so that when they are handed a counterfeit, they can spot it pretty quickly, even if they can't articulate why. Not because they know or are experts in every kind of counterfeit that is out there, but because they are so familiar with the authentic.

They are so intimately familiar with the real and with the authentic that they can spot the fake and the counterfeit very quickly. So a person who deeply understands the humility of Christ and the compassionate love of Christ can spot all counterfeit teachings. He can usually discern and call out the almost true as heresy.

What Paul is saying about this abounding love is that it is not blind. Love is not blind. Abounding love has both eyes wide open. A Christ-like love not only knows and embraces Christ's humiliation, but is also very discerning. And it's also very zealous for the truth and for holiness.

Abounding love hates sin, because it understands that the God of love hates sin. The untrained eye may mistake the call to holy living as legalism. The trained and discerning eye understands the call to holy living as the only appropriate response to amazing grace. The trained eye can discern between what is actually gospel-powered, compassionate service to the poor, and distinguish that from man-centered, humanitarian effort.

And because of his obsession with knowing Christ, Paul's been trained up in this discernment, so much so that when people are preaching the gospel, even from envy and strife to cause him affliction, it doesn't bother him. That kind of stuff, he doesn't care. He can still rejoice. He can rejoice because Christ is preached, even at his expense.

The two prominent women in this church are at odds. He has the discernment to know how to lead others to help them reconcile. In his discernment, Paul also knows how to get riled up with holy anger. He knows when to be upset. Paul doesn't get upset when he's personally maligned or attacked.

But he's riled up, though, when a false gospel threatens to infiltrate and corrupt the church. Philippians 3, 2-3, "Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision. For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh." Some of the translations have exclamation marks after each of the beware statements to catch Paul's emotion.

Christ-centered love is discerning. It knows when to fight, it knows how to fight, and it knows how to fight for and speak the truth. And discernment trains a Christian to know how to speak the truth, not out of self-righteousness, but in an abundance of Christ-centered love. A love that is focused on, and its goal is always the exaltation of Christ and the holiness of the believer.

Philippians 1, 9-11, "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent." The Apostle Paul praises with expectation that the Philippians will grow and abound in this discernment. At the close of the letter, he tells them that once they've determined and approved of those things that are excellent, that they're supposed to mull over it again and again.

They're supposed to obsess over it and dwell on it. And this dwelling, this abiding, I believe, is the fuel to keep the abounding love growing in abundance. And I want to read Philippians 4, 8. "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." And as a Christian's abounding love grows in real gnosis, knowledge, and discernment, the meditation on these things leads to still more and more.

And one of the things that we will discern well as we draw nearer to Christ is that Christ, in His kindness and His grace, will gift His people not just with faith and belief, but a joy-filled participation in suffering. Persecution and perhaps even martyrdom to the trained eye are gifts and privileges that have been granted to many believers in the history of the church.

The untrained eye will say, "Why is God doing this to me?" The trained eye will say, "I consider this all joy." And it looks like the Philippians were given this wonderful gift of suffering. Philippians 1, 29, "For to you it has been granted in joy for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." For the Christian, as his Christ-centered love abounds still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, he will learn to consider it all joy when he encounters various trials.

After all, Christ did not suffer and die to make us comfortable. Amen? He suffered and died to reconcile us to God and to save our souls. He suffered and died to equip us to lead others to be reconciled to God and to save their souls. Comfortable people are horrible evangelists.

Comfortable people grow cooler in love. Christ did not die to make us comfortable. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

The third and fourth elements of the abounding Christ-centered love, I'm just going to combine to a single point and go over it pretty quickly. They're not as difficult to understand, and we don't need to belabor every point. I put them on the slide because that's a part of the thought flow, and some of you guys get annoyed when something's missing.

So I put it there. Third, Christ-centered love is devout. And fourthly, a Christ-centered love is doxological. A Christ-centered love is devout. It's both sincere and blameless. The work of Christ on the cross has made the believer blameless in standing and in position. But it also continues to produce both a sincerity of heart and a blamelessness of deed if you are Christ-centered.

And the believer is filled with the fruit of righteousness simply as a gift of his faith, on the basis of his faith. And we read about that earlier in Philippians 3. Not by works, not by obedience to any law or conformity to any church culture, but by faith. He has been made righteous by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

He has been made devout, and he is empowered to live a devout life, abounding in love, more and more until the day of Christ. And the world hates this. One of our strongly recommended books that we almost want to force upon all our church members is R.C. Sproul's "The Holiness of God." And I'm going to share a quote that felt appropriate to share for today's passage, just in light of this point three.

"Holiness provokes hatred. The greater the holiness, the greater the human hostility toward it. It seems insane. No man was ever more loving than Jesus Christ, yet even his love made people angry." A Christ-centered love is devout, it is holy. And this holiness results in the praise and the glory of God.

It results in the exaltation of Christ. And as I mentioned to you before, the exaltation of Christ is at the heart of Philippians. "He who has once been humiliated will one day permanently be exalted." Philippians 2, 8-11. "Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. So that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." That's what awaits us on the day of Christ.

Until the day of Christ, the love of the church grows and abounds. Until the day of Christ, the saints persevere in holiness. And on that day, there is glory and there is praise lifted up from heaven and on earth and under the earth. Every knee bows, every tongue confesses, and for all eternity, Christ the Lamb of God is highly exalted.

So while we live in this sin-tainted world and our temporarily broken realities, as we become more Christ-centered, we will understand what it means to join with Paul in saying, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." It sounds so nice, right, on a picture frame, but how many of you obsess over that and believe that?

To live is Christ and His sufferings and the power of His resurrection, becoming like Him in His death, and to die is gain. So what if I suffer? So what if we physically perish? Death isn't bad for the Christian. It is good. Death isn't just good, it's actually very much better, it says, right?

It is better by far, the dynamic equivalents will say. Death is gain. So with the remaining time we have on earth, we will live to know Christ and to make Him known, and to love abundantly, and to minister to His people in our humiliation, in our suffering, in our discomfort, in our misunderstood states, in our weakness.

And this love will abound more and more until the day of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2.9, "Just as it is written, 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.'" Have you guys ever imagined what heaven is like?

What do you picture when you think of heaven? There have been movies made on it, things are all white, right, and stuff, but what is it like? And I think part of it is because our imaginations are so tainted, like, we don't long for it as we should. Whatever heaven is like, the Bible makes a couple things clear.

No imperfect eye has ever beheld it. No mind, no matter how creative, has ever accurately imagined it. Not a one. Every beautiful thing you, right now, can conjure up in your mind in trying to visualize heaven is nowhere near close to the new reality that awaits us. For starters, we will see God face to face, sin free.

We will no longer be broken. We will no longer be sin corrupted. Our ability to enjoy will be perfect. We will never tire of anything. The honeymoon will not just not end, it will get better and better and better for all eternity. And for that, by faith, we, whose citizenship is in heaven, eagerly await the Savior from there.

But while we eagerly wait, may our love abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that we can approve the things that are excellent, being filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God, until he returns.

And I want to close with Philippians 3, 18-21, to describe our current, already but not yet state. For many walk, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humiliated state into conformity with the body of his glory, by the exertion of the power that he has, even to subject all things to himself.

And he goes on to say in chapter 4, verse 1, "Therefore, my brothers, stand firm." May the Lord grant us abounding love and persevering holiness to his glory and for our joy. Amen? Let's pray together. Father, we are so limited. And not only are we limited, we are proud, where we think that we can trust what we know.

But I pray, Father, for greater growth in humility, in brokenness, and in weakness, so that we will not resist your sanctifying power and your love. Teach us how to love like you. Teach us how to grieve over sin. Teach us how to hate it. And Lord, move us to compassion, so that everyone may know that you are God, and that you are good.

Be gracious to us. I pray this in Jesus' name. Church family, let's all stand together as we sing our closing praise. One church, one faith, one in the praise. God and God alone. One voice, one grace, one name that says, All praise to you belongs. All praise to you belongs.

We lift you high, high. God and God alone. May it be louder, louder than any other song. You are forever seated on your throne. You are forever God and God alone. Who else can wash us in the way? God and God alone. Who else can raise us from the grave?

All praise to you belongs. Jesus. All praise to you belongs. We lift you high, high. God and God alone. May it be louder, louder than any other song. You are forever seated on your throne. You are forever God and God alone. What could separate us from this amazing love?

What could stand greater? Our God, every knee will bow down. What could separate us from this amazing love? What could stand greater? Our God, every knee will bow down. Oh, every knee will bow down. We lift you high, high. God and God alone. May it be louder, louder than any other song.

You are forever seated on your throne. We lift you high, high. God and God alone. May it be louder, louder than any other song. You are forever seated on your throne. You are forever God and God alone. Let's pray together. Lord, we pray with the Apostle Paul that our love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and in all discernment so that we too may approve things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to your glory and to your praise.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and love of God the Father and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each and every one of us who abounds in love and perseveres in holiness until the day he returns. Hallelujah. Amen. God sent his Son. They called him Jesus.

He came to love, heal, and forgive. He lived and died to buy my heart and hand. An empty grave is there to hold my Savior and land. Because he lives, I confess tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lives.

Let your kingdom come. Let your kingdom come. ♪ And so it will be done ♪