James Richards

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Sunday Morning Service

Jeremy Richards

Copalis Community Church

03 November 2024

Bible References

• Philippians 1:11

Audio MP3 PDF

Christian power is found in the power of the gospel. And so we're going to focus on just one verse today. And for me, it just brings me to a place of questioning and a desire to understand the gospel in a fuller sense. So we're going to be in Philippians chapter one, and this is just the end. I know we touched on this the last time I had the chance to share, but it's the end of Paul's prayer for the Philippians, and before we end up going into the second part of his introduction, which is where he's writing from, which I am looking forward to.

But first, we're just going to hang out one more week on verse 11. So Paul is praying for these Philippians. In verse 11, it says, Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. To the glory and praise of God. One more time.

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. To the glory and praise of God. Let's pray. Oh, Father, I want to acknowledge my guilt before you, Lord, of not understanding, Lord. And because I don't understand becoming classified with the irresponsible leaders in Israel's past, Lord, of not being able to proclaim your gospel in the way that I should, Father.

And so we ask in this time, Lord, by your Holy Spirit, Lord, because of an act of your mercy and desire to show your grace towards us, that you would give us an understanding to comprehend your gospel in a way that you intend, Lord. We just ask, Lord, out of a place of need and desire, in Jesus name. Amen. So we're going to talk about this fruits of righteousness in verse 11. It says in verse 11, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

This filling is an interesting thing. It speaks like that, speaking of Jesus, who stood up on that last day, that great day of the feast, and he cried out in a loud voice, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. For as Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. It is that well which springs up in a person's life. It is a feeling.

Jesus said that the thief came to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus said that he came that you might have life and life in abundance, this filling life, this spring that wells up. One of the benefits of this filling life is it doesn't leave room for anything else. Now, the Christian message is not about what you can't do. If that is what you are about, you really aren't walking with Christ.

The Christian message is about what you can do and because of what you can do, because of the opportunities that present itself through obedience to Christ. There is no desire to take apart that which is not helpful. It says, Paul says, all things are lawful for me, but not all is helpful. One of the great things about the Christian life, it is such a full life that it doesn't leave room for anything else. It is that cup that comes out in such a degree and it spills out, affecting those around you.

It has an overflow, it has an excess that keeps a person free from the stationary effects of sin. I remember being on the ship and watching the dolphins and the porpoises come and play in that wave that the ship make as it traveled through the water. And these dolphins would come and catch that wave and jump and frisk and play. It was a beautiful thing to sit up on the bow on a warm day and just look down 20ft below at these shapes just moving in and out of this wave, enjoying the creation that God has made. But there was some of these dolphins that had a kind of a sucker fish attached to them, right?

And this sucker fish would attach themselves to the dolphin and get a free ride and free meal the whole time. And some of these dolphins became look at a burden as not just one, but two or three or four of these big fish, seemingly like four feet long. These pale covered, spineless things that attach themselves to the dolphins to suck their blood. Well, these fish breed in stale, stagnant waters and they attach themselves to dolphins when the dolphins are in that area. And if the goal is to be free from these influences that hinder us, one of the benefits of being filled with the fruits of righteousness is it leaves no room for anything else.

It covers everything.

It is that yeast that works itself into every part of the loaf and leaves nothing undone. It is something that completely fills the life of the Christian. And so the desire here of Paul is that these individuals would be filled, filled to excess, to abundance of the fruits of righteousness. There are other things that produce fruit also that are not necessarily the fruits of righteousness. There is in confusion a lot of times a disguise which pretends to be righteousness, but is no more than religion.

Religion has fruit and righteousness has fruit. The fruit of religion is different than the fruit of righteousness. They are separate things, though easily confused by those who don't know the difference. The fruits of religion is based on that which a man is able to do, a man or able to do, or woman is able to do. To bring favor with God.

It is based on physical activities or even seemingly spiritual things that we say or do. Sometimes it's prayers, alms, different types of sacrifices or ways that we tend to humble ourselves or even deprive ourselves of things that bring about fruit. The problem with that Jesus exposes the nature of these physical or religious activities when he says these things. When they pray or do, certain things are done to be seen by men. They have a desire of self gratification in some ways.

I know that a lot of people would argue with me whether there's any truly good thing that human people have ever done. I'm not trying to necessarily get into that argument today whether there's any good thing. But what I do want to point out is there's a difference between the fruit that comes from religion and that which comes from righteousness. They're different animals, they're found in different places and they produce different fruit. Though you and I have a tendency to be duped into thinking that at times certain things that we do produce spiritual fruit, that's not what Paul is praying for.

Here he is praying for fruits that come from righteousness. Fruits that come from righteousness.

Now what you're thinking at this point may self awareness of what you think about spiritual fruit. If in your mind religious activities come into your mind, there's a deeper chance that the fruit you're enjoying may be one of religion. You see, fruit that comes from righteousness is not a partial righteousness because there is none. Either something is absolutely 100% righteous or it is not. There is no common ground.

There's no attaining righteous or almost righteous. Either a person is absolutely righteous or not righteous at all. Either a judge can be just or that judge has the possibility of being influenced by something other than justice. Here Paul is praying for fruit. He's praying that these believer's life would be filled to the abundance of fruit.

But this fruit is based on righteousness. I think if you and I were to examine our own lives, that if you were honest though you might want to call yourself a good person. Though you may point to the time you bought McDonald's for someone in back of you. I don't know that you could really honestly declare yourself to be righteous. Righteous indicates that there's no fault.

There's nothing between God and you, that everything you've done is correct and true. We see here in verse 11 in Paul's desire to pray for these individuals that they would be filled with the fruits of righteousness. He gives an indication which are by Jesus Christ. You see, the fruits of righteousness are not attainable by you and I. They are out of our reach.

They are beyond the scope of what we can have because we have been affected by the curse and willingly entered into a warfare with God through enmity that is expressed in our sin. That righteousness is only attainable by Jesus Christ. So I would just like to look at what is the righteousness of Jesus Christ? What does it look like? How does a person experience the righteousness of Christ?

First of all, we have to see that there has to be a willingness, if we're to experience the righteousness of God, a willingness to transfer that righteousness, to share it with other people. That God has to first have a desire to transfer the fruits of righteousness to us if we're to have them. It says, when speaking about Abraham and also us, he says, because God could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, surely I will bless you. And multiplying, I will multiply you. He has a desire in his heart to pass on spiritual blessings to people.

That his goal, the earnest desire of his heart, a willing, a choice of his own nature, is to pass on spiritual blessing to people. If it were not so, there would be no reason to pray for it. But this possibility exists, number one, because God wants it to happen. I know that if we have a religious mindset, we feel that our circumstances are what determine our righteousness. But here we see without a doubt that the foundation, the starting point of real righteousness has to begin in a willingness for God to make that step.

Because no amount of corrective measures on our behalf, no striving or reaching could ever bring us to that point of righteousness because we have already sinned. So is there a desire in God's nature to transfer righteousness from himself to us? And if so, what is the cost? What is the responsibility? What has to happen in order for that righteousness and that righteous fruit to be passed on for us by Jesus Christ?

You and I have, as it were, a field. A field. And there is no question, as you read through the Bible, that God's desire is to make that field fruitful. Not only does he desire to make it fruitful, it goes so far that if it is not fruitful, he has a very strong feeling about the waste of the field. As we look out in nature, we see that everything is producing fruit.

That is, producing some fruit that is useful to us and others, that is not. Whether it's good or bad. Everything is producing fruit. I was curious as I Thought about this fruit, even the bad fruit. Just real quick, what is the thing, the worst weed that produces seed in your mind?

In our area, we have a lot of people that garden, but in your mind, what is the worst kind of seed? Anyone have an example? Scotch broom. Okay. Dandelions.

Dockweed. Buttercup.

Morning glory. Right. And so all these things are producing seed, they're producing fruit. But Jesus wants to produce good fruit in our lives. Through all the parables, we see just over and over his intense desire to produce fruit in our lives.

But the problem is that ground that he wants to produce fruit in has an ownership that is not his. For a certain time, there is a field that you and I possess that he earnestly wants to produce the fruits of righteousness in. But the problem is that land has become contaminated through sin. It says that God looked upon the land in the people in Noah's time and saw that the wickedness was great. When coming towards Sodom and Gomorrah, he heard that the outcry of the city was great, that there was a sin that had built up in this land, the land that he desired to produce fruit.

And even though the desire was there, there was something preventing him being able to plant fruit there. If we're honest, though you call yourself a good person, it doesn't take just a little bit of blunt work to determine that in our hearts there is an extreme measure of wickedness that you and I have acted upon that even in my best times. That unfortunately, the wickedness that passed through my mind is not something I would want to share with people. That if we were like those religious leaders bringing forward a woman caught in adultery, that all of us would eventually leave. And Jesus says, hey, if you're without sin, you throw the first stone.

Some of us might stay there longer, thinking that we could do it. But eventually we'd be brought to a place of recognizing that our field has been defiled through sin, our own sin, other sin. But Jesus came, and to overcome that, he purchased that field. He bought it. But the problem was in the purchasing of the field, what was associated.

The field had to be bought with it. We see that Boaz, as the kinsman Redeemer in the life of Ruth, came to a point, and it was brought to his attention that Ruth had come back as a Moabitess, one excluded from the congregation of God, come back and now with Naomi dwelling in Israel, and that someone would need to redeem Ruth's husband's nicon, or Ruth's husband's property. And so they brought it into the city gates, and they said to the nearest kinsmen, redeem this property. It needs to be redeemed so it stays in the family line. And the guy says, I will do it.

But Boaz says, there's a condition when you redeem the property, you have to take Ruth as your wife. Now, a lot of us envision Ruth, right, as a beautiful Moabitess woman with no problems. Everything's just great. And we think, wow, she would be one I would want too, right? But that's not necessarily the case.

Boaz, when he said to this man, you have to take Ruth, also the nearest kin said, no, I'm sorry, I can't do it. The thought of taking Ruth as his wife was more than he can bear. That which she had experienced in growing up in a Moabite culture. The religion that she had practiced was more than he was willing to bring into his own house. And so Boaz says, okay, if you won't do it, take off your shoe.

And he became the nearest kin, became like one who took off their shoe in Israel. But Boaz says, I'm going to redeem her that land. In order to be redeemed, someone had to accept the responsibility of all that belong to the land. Here we see Jesus, in a desire to purchase the land to produce beautiful fruit, doesn't hesitate when the land has to be bought with the fullness of what has been done on it. Though the evil mounts up into a mountain from our hearts, though the sin was without measure, he does not flinch in saying, I will redeem it.

Though it was, as it were, an auction, slated to be condemned, though the evidence strongly weighed against that, though it was condemned already, Jesus said, I will make and purchase that piece of property and all that is associated with it. The cost was extremely great to purchase that property. The cost mounted. So much so that the only suitable price to purchase that property was the life of God's own Son, that the payment could not be measured out in gold or silver. It could not be paid for in acts of service.

The only thing that could possibly redeem that property, that life was God's own Son. The amount of.

How do you say it? The redemptive amount was so great that only God's Son's life could cover the life, could cover the cost. And Jesus willingly made that exchange that on his shoulders. It said he became the man of sin, that all the burden of that property became his own responsibility, and he became the kinsman Redeemer for you and I, that we might come in the direction of bearing the fruits of righteousness. The second thing that had to happen was that the stain of sin had to be removed, Though the full cost or the penalty of sin was removed from that property because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Though the full weight of every sin that you and I ever committed was cast into the sea as far as the east is from the west, there was still stain of sin that was in you and I's life. I lived in Los Angeles for a while, and we had this big yard that was absolutely stuffed with everything. Two 40 foot containers high all the way around this quarter block lot. They would put pallet rack and fill it up three high and put another pallet rack and three high and another pallet rack over and over and over. And so we cleaned out this yard.

So much stuff. Five years of my life. Five years, years of my life cleaning up other people's mess. But it came time to turn it back over to the port of Los Angeles, and they came out and we recognized they wanted to test the ground. They wanted to know whether or not we disposed of hazardous waste into the dirt.

And I was kind of terrified because we had hazardous waste. There was stuff there. There was stuff that spilled. There was stuff. And I didn't know what to do.

And they came and they said, have you ever spilled anything here? Or did you ever tear stuff apart or break stuff down? I remember the one time we tore apart a truck, right? And it was next to a boat and there was a visiting youth group there. And I was like, and there was some liquid in it and the cap was off.

And I was like, well, there couldn't be any gasoline in there. Just dump it out. And he had his torch right there and he dumped it out. And there was gasoline in this tank and it caught the boat on fire. It caught everything.

And there's huge black smoke going up into the air in Los Angeles there. But I was kind of afraid that what they would find in the dirt. But as I dug in the dirt, I realized that there was other stuff in the dirt. And I found out that before us it had been a wrecking yard. And I was like, oh, that's wonderful.

And so they came and they asked me these questions and I said, yes, you know, this is what I know about what we've done here. But before we were here, this was used as a wrecking yard. All you got to do is dig down in the dirt and all the parts and stuff are all there. And they're like, oh. And so I was like, it wasn't, you know, whether it's us or not, you have to make that decision.

But the stain of sin is there on our lives, and that stain affects our conscience. And what can deal with the stain of sin? It says, there is no launderer's detergent that can remove that stain. There is nothing that it says, can you remove the leopard spot? There is nothing.

But Jesus says that he brought his own blood as an offering as a high priest, not into the tabernacle made with hands, but into that tabernacle, the true tabernacle. And he presented his blood as an offering for the stain of sin. It was just Yom Kippur a few, maybe a couple weeks ago. In which the Jews celebrate the time in which the high priest once a year brings a goat's blood into the holiest of holies place and presents that blood as an offering for the sin of the people. But they had to repeatedly make the same sacrifice, which actually never could take away sin.

There remained a remainder of sin, but Jesus was different, taking his own blood before the mercy seat of God, and he presented it as an offering before God for the stain of the sin of the people. Some of us know about the stain of sin when it weighs down our hearts, when it drives us to despair. Some of us in our country, over and over and over again go to people and pay them money to have them, tell them that they're okay. They expend expensive amounts of drugs to induce them to think that everything's okay. But their conscience is a silent witness before God and before them that the stain of sin cannot be removed.

But Jesus blood came as a sacrifice to remove the stain from our hearts. And you say, why the blood? Because the power, the life is in the blood. And without blood, there is no remission of sin. But ultimately, it's not about what you and I find pleasing or appropriate.

Because even to those disciples, Jesus said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, they didn't like it. And so they left. It's not whether or not you or I like whether Jesus blood is a sacrifice that brought before the holy place, releases God's righteousness available for us. What's important to recognize is whether or not it works. You can like a lot of things, but if it doesn't work, it's of no value.

But Jesus blood was brought as a sure covenant and brought into the holy place and laid there before the altar, before the mercy seat. And God accepted it.

And it says that that blood, when applied to our Hearts that the conscience bears witness, that the sin doesn't belong to us any longer. Our conscience constantly nagging us. But when a person comes to a place of that blood being applied to the stain of our life, it has the potential and the ability to wash even the dirtiest person absolutely clean. Because it's not based on the filth of the person, but the potency of the sacrifice. That Jesus blood came and was enough for God to declare us righteous.

That the stain of sin, which was constantly before God's throne, was fully removed by the sacrifice so that God could declare a person righteousness. And this righteousness that we're talking about here is a declared righteousness. The third thing that we see is that Jesus stands ministering before the throne of God, that he is our high priest. That he, having been raised from the dead, now stands at the right hand, meaning two things. That the way has been made open for you and I to have a righteous life.

I believe that when Jesus died, there was a great thunder. He rose a shout and that he went and burst through the veil into the temple, indicating that now that hand breath thick curtain no longer separated people from the holy place. And that he burst into that, providing a way for you and I. And that he has been raised from the dead, indicating that that way to righteousness is now free for you and I. Because death could not hold Jesus, it could not also hold you and I.

There were so many things against Jesus, Micaiah. He was dead for three days. You and I got physical problems, right? Everyone's complaining about all their aches and pains. Has anyone been dead three days?

No, that's not enough. It says neither width, nor breadth, nor height, nor any created thing can keep you from the love of God. That sin tends to keep an oppression on us. But the weight of the sin of the world could not keep Jesus down. That the stain of sin could not defile Jesus.

That he paid everything and proved that the way is now available for you and I to experience true righteousness. This is what Jesus did so that you and I might experience the fruits of righteousness. Not based in any way on what you and I done. But not only are we encouraged and joyfully prayed for to experience righteousness when we experience righteousness, this is the means by which God is glorified. This is true worship.

When we walk in the fruits of this righteousness, some of us struggle on the way home. You know, do I listen to Kdux, which is carnal or Caleb? Right? We're not sure. And we think, well, I'm going to be a real worshiper today.

I'm going to listen to Caleb. Right? But real worship is not necessarily associated with music. It is the participating in the righteousness of God that praise to the Father. The thing that glorifies God the most, that shows his character more than anything else.

We love the beauty of God. It's wonderful. It's an amazing thing. We love the ingenuity and the engineering of God. But the thing that shows God nature more than anything else is when a simple person like you and I walks in his fullness for our lives.

When we walk with Jesus, what is the fruits of righteousness? The fruits of righteousness is walking with Christ. There's a lot of good things. Stacy's not here today, but there's a lot of good things to be married with. Stacy.

She's a good cook, she's a good friend. She's my business partner. She's the mother of my children. There's so many beautiful things that I receive from her. But just being with her is the best thing.

Everything else could disappear, but just to be with her. The same thing with Jesus. The best thing, the fruit comes from walking with Jesus to participating with him in his nature. Overcoming the difficulties of life is the fruits of being righteous, the fruits of righteousness. But there is something to consider as we look upon this marvelous work which Jesus did for us to allow us to participate in his nature, that Jesus himself is not a forceful person when it comes to the right of others.

If I love someone so much, I could write them poems. I could say roses are red and violets are blue and come up with a beautiful poem. I could express my undying affection to them. I could express how much I'd be willing to accomplish for them. But if they were not willing to receive it, it becomes nothing more.

I hate to use that word, but nothing more than a kind of forced rape. Jesus, being such a kind person, is unwilling to force himself on an individual who will not receive it. His care and his respect for you as a person is of such a high degree that he will not force his fruit on an individual who doesn't want it. So my encouragement for us today is if there is a desire to move past the fruits of what is just, man made religion and experience the fruit of an imputed righteousness. My question to you is, do you receive it?

Now there's two parts of receiving the grace of Jesus Christ. The first is a willingness to receive it. An expression of our mouth and of our heart that Jesus, I want Your righteousness in my life.

For some that may be a difficult thing. But my encouragement is that without much difficulty, what you view as your own righteousness is dismantled easily. But Jesus righteousness, that imputed righteousness, is one of beauty and security, that our conscience recognizes that it turns sinners into saints, people who were burdened and filled with sin, now enjoying the freedom of a child of God. The first step is to confess with our mouth that Jesus is our Lord. The second is a believing in our heart that putting that word into action and following his commandments.

But this says that in just one second in Hebrews that Jesus is the author of a new covenant. In this covenant, it is one where he puts the desire in our hearts, a desire to walk with him. He said, I will put my law in their minds and in their heart. He will change our desires. I'm going to close with this just one more time.

Jesus desire for us, as prayed for through Paul here, is that you and I would experience the fruit of righteousness that can only come about as a work of God declaring us righteous, that it leads to the praise and glory of God. If we were to be introspective or look at our own lives, the first step would be if we were in silence, if we closed our eyes, if we really were honest with ourselves. We ask ourselves, am I a bondservant of Jesus? Do I belong to him? Have I taken that yoke upon my own shoulders to walk with him?

And if so, then we continue to walk. And I believe without a doubt that we will experience these fruits. They will become in us a wellspring, bubbling up into eternal life, not leaving room for that ugly stuff which tends to clean, but a life giving, well, giving us life and splashing on those around us. And that's my prayer for us today. So let's pray.

O Holy Father, Lord, I pray and ask that though the inadequate explanation of your great grace, Lord, was given today, Lord, I would just ask by your mercy, Lord, that those whose hearts are willing, those who you are calling, Lord, may be encouraged by your word to live out a type of life that is accurate and reflective of that sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Lord, I just thank you. In Jesus name, amen.