The Saints of God
Philippians 4:20-23
This particular Sunday morning is, in some ways, an historical moment because we come to the last message on the great epistle of Paul to the Philippians. About a year and a half ago we embarked upon this book and God has taken us through many marvelous truths and applications. We now bring to a close this great, great letter. And my prayer is that though we cease to preach on this, it does not cease to be warm in your hearts, fresh in your minds, active in your living.
We come to the final four verses of Philippians, chapter 4 verses 20 through 23. There is one word that is repeated twice in these four verses to which I would like to draw your attention and which will provide for us the substance of the message this morning. That is the word "saint." It appears in verse 21. It appears again in verse 22. That little word saint is going to be the hook on which we hang the truths of these four verses. It is a familiar word to us but admittedly somewhat understood wrongly or improperly by most people.
For example, if someone were to ask you if you were a saint, what would you say? Well you might think about it for a moment because you might be a little bit afraid to answer the question because the term "saint" has been loaded with so much that is not representative of its biblical meaning. The word "saint" has come very far from its original New Testament sense. And for some of us we would be reluctant to say I'm a saint because we live under the assumption that someone who is a saint lives at a much higher spiritual level than we do and we would be thinking ourselves somewhat egotistical, boastful, proud to even say I'm a saint because we reserve that term for people who spiritual are much, much more like Jesus Christ than we assume ourselves to be, and so humility in one sense might cause us to be a bit afraid to answer in the affirmative.
And then looking at it from the opposite extreme we might not want to say that we are saints because people might misunderstand what we mean by that. Most people, I suppose, would assess a saint as a sort of angular figure long dead, a sort of ecclesiastical relic crystallized in stained glass or in a statue form in some Catholic Church someplace. And since we are neither ecclesiastical relics or long dead and certainly not worthy of stained glass windows, nor desirous of being turned into statues, we're a bit reluctant. Maybe we think of a saint like the little boy who said they are multi-colored people who block out the sunlight, and we really don't care to be a multi-colored person who blocks out the sunlight.
It could be very unacceptable to us to be identified as a saint if we assess sainthood like the Roman Catholic Church does. In Roman Catholic theology which, of course, has tended to dominate the definition of the term "saint," a saint is a super-person. In fact, Catholic theology says, and I quote, "A saint is one who has exhibited unsurpassable devotion to Christ." And if you take that definition that a saint is someone who has demonstrated unsurpassable devotion to Christ, you might well be reluctant to call yourself a saint because it would be hard for you to say...Well, my devotion to Christ has no capability of being surpassed by anyone anyplace. That too sounds a bit much.
The Roman Catholic Church says that people, however, who have lived lives of unsurpassable devotion to Jesus Christ are worthy to be called saints, to be canonized which word means to be made the spiritual standard, or lifted up as the spiritual models, and so these canonized unsurpassably devoted people are called saints. Statues and stained-glass windows are made of them and they are to be venerated, they are to be prayed to, appealed to, praised, exalted and honored. And that whole thing makes us uncomfortable with the term saint. These statues of saints are placed in churches. The statue itself then becomes in whatever form, whether it's a small statue or a large one, the focal point of veneration. You might see, for example, people kissing those saints. You might see many people bowing their knees before those saints. You will see some people bringing flowers and gifts to the saints. Others will be burning candles or lighting lights in more sophisticated cathedrals. Some people will be offering incense and some people will be just there meditating upon the virtues of the life of that individual.
Now this is done because the Roman Catholic Church teaches that because of the unsurpassable devotion to Christ these people exhibited in their earthly life, they have been exalted in their heavenly life to a position of special clout with God. And the reason we appeal to them and the reason we honor them and extol them and venerate them is so that they in receiving our honor and our prayers will intercede with God for our needs. They become intermediaries, intercessors for us and we want to stay in their good graces and since they by holy life on earth have special clout with God can gain things for us, we want to do all we can to acknowledge their greatness.
Another thing Roman Catholic theology teaches is that they have special work of interceding with God for the souls of people which are captive to the pain of purgatory. And so as you pray to the saint, in a sense you are pleading with that saint to appeal to God to release the one that you love from the pain of purgatory. In fact, you will frequently see in a Roman Catholic Church candles at the feet of the saints, which candles are lighted and as long as the candle is still burning, the prayer is perpetual to the saint to plead with the saint, to plead with God to get that soul out of purgatory.
These things make us feel very uncomfortable with being called a saint. We do not care to be etched in stained glass, we do not care to be a statue that somebody kisses. We do not care to be thought of as somebody who is supposed to be getting people out of a place that doesn't even exist. So the whole idea of sainthood can be a bit uncomfortable for us.
However, not withstanding all of that misinformation about what sainthood is, you might be interested to know that Paul's favorite word for Christians is the word "saint." He uses it over sixty times in his epistles. And when he speaks of saints, the majority of times his reference is to very ordinary Christians...very ordinary Christians. You will notice that in verse 21 he says, "Greet every saint in Christ Jesus." In verse 22 he says, "All the saints greet you." And you can see by both of those references that the term is very commonly used. It is very broad. It is very encompassing. In fact, he identifies all of the people in the Philippian church as saints back in chapter 1 verse 1. He says, "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons." It isn't just deacons who become saints, it isn't just elders, overseers who become saints, or pastors, it is everybody in the congregation who is a saint.
One little boy said that saints are stained-glass figures who block out the sunlight. And another answered him. No, saints are people who let the light shine through them. And that, in effect, is the true definition of a saint. Any saint could be defined as one in whom the light of Christ exists and from whom the light of Christ shines.
Now Paul comes to the end of his letter to the Philippians, he reminds them of the identification he gave them at the very beginning, that they in fact are saints. And as he says this final little farewell here, when he introduces the term saint he gives us a good hook on which to hang this whole text so that we can pull it together and comprehend its richness and its implications for our own lives.
Now, if someone asks you if you're a saint, by the time we get done with our message this morning I hope you'll be able to give happily the right answer. You should know what to say.
Let's talk first of all about the character of saints...the character of saints, or the nature of saints, or the definition of saints. Just looking at that word, saint, in the singular, saints in the plural in verse 22, inherent in the term is the definition or the character or the nature of a saint. The word hagios or hagioi(?) in plural, simply means "set apart ones, separated ones, sanctified ones or perhaps best, holy ones." That's just a list of synonyms for the word "saint." The concept is "being set apart, being separated." Now we know that the Bible says that God is holy. The word can be translated holy, is often translated holy in Scripture, it means the same thing. We know that God is holy, or God is saintly or God is separated. And from what is God separated? God is separated from sin, that is in fact the purest definition of God's nature. That is why it is the only attribute of God repeated three times, He is holy, holy, holy. Why? Because it defines God's utter otherness. It defines Him as utterly unlike us because we are sinful He is separated from sin...utterly distinct from sin, set apart from sin. What is a saint then? A saint is one...listen carefully...who has been separated from sin unto God for holy purposes. That's all inherent in the word. Separated from sin to God for holy purposes...that's a saint. Anyone who is separated from sin unto God is a saint.
Now there's a further insight into this definition in verse 21 because he says, "Greet every saint in Christ Jesus." And in the sphere of being "in Christ Jesus" is where sainthood takes place. That little phrase "in Christ Jesus" is a very common one to the Apostle Paul because it defines the Christian's identity. We are in Christ. We do not just believe Christ. We do not just believe that He lived and died and rose. We do not just believe that He provided salvation. We do not just believe that He is coming again. We are not only believing Christ, believing in Christ, but we are in Christ in a union of life. We are bonded to Christ.
Now this has been on the mind of Paul in the Philippian letter. It is not the first time the thought has crossed his mind. Chapter 1 verse 21 simply sums it up, "For to me to live is Christ." And a number of other times in this epistle he uses the term "in Christ" or "in the Lord." For him his very life was in Christ. There's a sense in which the believer has been separated from sin unto God. And that separation is accomplished when we cease to be in the darkness, in sin and we become in the light, in holiness, in Christ. That obviously is not completed yet until the day of our glorification. But already we have received the righteousness of God in Christ imputed to us. We have received the indwelling Holy Spirit and with Him the life of God within us which is a righteous nature. We have...Peter says it as well as anyone in 2 Peter 1...we have by having received the righteousness and godliness of Christ been delivered from the corruption of the lust that is in the world. A believer then is a saint because every believer is in Christ, separated from sin unto God for holy purposes. That is true of all of us.
So, the definition of the saint, the nature of the saint, the character of the saint...very simple, one who is separated from sin unto God for holy purposes which separation has occurred by that individual becoming in Christ through faith. In Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death and resurrection we become in Christ. Paul says to the Roman church, we are joined with Christ, we die with Christ, we rise with Christ, we walk in the newness of the life of Christ. To the Galatians he says, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live...implied with Christ...and the life I live I live in the flesh, but it is not I...he says...it is Christ living in me." So I am in Christ. That's not true of other world religions. People aren't in Buddha, they just believe in the teachings of Buddha. They aren't in Mohammed, they just believe the teachings of Mohammed. They aren't in Mary Baker Eddy, they aren't in their religious leader. They aren't in the swamis and the yogi leaders and occult leaders. That kind of union of life is distinctively Christian. And we are therefore distinctively the separated ones who are the saints. There should be no reluctance in your heart and mind in calling yourself a saint. The only reluctance should be that you might feel embarrassed to say it because someone knows you're not living as a saint ought to live. But the title you deserve.
Just to make it as clear as possible who the saints are, if you were to identify the most troublesome sinful church to which a New Testament letter is written, what church would it be? Corinth, right? Listen to these encouraging words, 1 Corinthians 1:1 and 2, "Paul, called an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling." Even the Corinthians were saints. With all of our failures and foibles and problems, we are saints.
What is the character of a saint? One who has been separated from sin unto God, set apart for holy purpose. That occurs because that person by faith in the person and work of Christ is in Christ. And so we possess the righteousness of Christ, are separated from sin and its dominion, some day separated sin and its presence. So Paul is glad to remind the Philippians that they are saints. And I think inherent in this reminder in the beginning of the epistle and at the end, and he really circles back and picks up the term, inherent in that reminder is that sort of insidious message underneath it that if you're going to call yourself a saint, you better get serious about living up to your title. There's that implication clearly in the very term.
So as the dear Apostle Paul watches the candle flicker, probably at night, and realizes that the darkness of night is soon to fall and waits the morning dawn when he hands the scroll, as it were, to Epaphroditus and he says, "Epaphroditus, the letter is done, you can now return to Philippi and give it to the leaders of the church," as he waits to send off that dictated letter which an amanuensis or secretary has taken down, just before he is finished in the flickering of that last evening, he picks the stylus up himself and with his own hand it is very likely that verses 20, 21, 22 and 23 were written.
You say, "Well what makes you think that? The word of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians. The Apostle Paul in writing the final words of 2 Thessalonians said this, "I, Paul," chapter 3 verse 17, "write this greeting with my own hand and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter, this is the way I write." You wouldn't write a letter without signing it to authenticate it, neither would Paul. And he says in that verse, "In all the letters I write, I always take up the pen and authenticate this." You can understand how important that would be, right? People could be sending all kinds of letters and saying they were from Paul, it was vital that the true Word of God through that instrument be validated by his own inimitable inscription. And we know from Galatians 6:11 that he wrote with large letters. There's reason to assume a rather large clumsy letters were his common way to sign off which would be very difficult to counterfeit. And so he picks up the stylus from his secretary, or amanuensis, and pens this final word. And as he does he introduces to us this lovely theme of sainthood.
Now having understood the character of saints, let's move secondly to the worship of saints...the worship of saints. Verse 20, "Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
Now let me give you a point that I want to emphasize. Saints are not to be worshiped. Saints are to worship. Saints are not only known by their relationship to sin and to God through Christ, but saints are known by their worship. This, by the way, in verse 20, is a great doxology. Doxology comes from a Greek word doxa which means glory. A doxology is simply a word about glory. It is ascribing glory to God. It is a doxology.
Let me tell you something about doxologies. As in this case, doxologies are responses of praise to great truth. Did you hear that? A doxology is the fitting response to doctrine, to truth. And this outburst of doxology in verse 20, this outburst of praise flows from the Apostle's exuberant joy over the whole letter which has literally expounded the heretofore unheard truth of God. And I believe though Paul wrote it with his own pen, writing it under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, he probably experienced an exhilaration that could exceed any exhilaration that we could even feel. What we learn here is that worship as always is the fitting response to doctrine. Truth should produce joyous praise, glory to God.
Now the heart of the doxology is that little phrase "be the glory...be the glory." That simply means divine honor, divine praise, divine adoration. That's what a doxology is. It gives glory to God. It adores Him, honors Him, respects Him, fears Him, worships Him, praises Him. It is a fitting response to truth. And all the marvelous truth that has been flowing through this epistle is culminated in verse 19, isn't it? "And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Just the overwhelming realization that all your needs are met in Christ releases, as it were, the pent up thrill and out comes the exuberant Spirit-inspired praise of verse 20.
A similar outburst of doxological praise occurs at another high point in Paul's letters. Turn with me to Romans chapter 11, Romans chapters 1 through 11 provide for us the greatest doctrinal treatise in all of Scripture, the monumental discussion of the significance of the coming, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as Paul has gone through 11 chapters of this doctrine, 11 chapters of this profound truth, he can no longer contain himself. And in verse 33 of chapter 11 as he comes to the end of the doctrinal section of Romans, it's as if the lid blows off and he just exuberantly pours out these words, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways, for who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor, or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever. Amen."
And after bursting at the seams, as it were, he then settles down to write the last part of his book. And even after the last part of Romans, which is practical instruction, he can't close the epistle without praise and so the last verse of Romans 16 says "To the only wise God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever. Amen."
Listen, praise is always the fitting response to truth. Listen to me, that is why when you worship God you worship Him in spirit and in...what?...truth. People will say to me, "Well, you know, at the worship service, you call it a worship service but there's too much preaching, there's too much reading of Scripture, discussing of Scripture, we need more time for worship." And my response to that is...that the time for worship is when you are responding to truth. And so how can we worship God if we do not know truth about Him?
The Apostle Paul then tells us about the worship of saints. We are the worshipers, not the worshiped. We worship. Notice, please, it says, "Be the glory forever and ever." That marvelous Greek phrase translated forever and forever basically means cycles...cycles and cycles and cycles and cycles, it's ad infinitum, it's unending. Saints worship unendingly, cycling and cycling and cycling and cycling, worshiping and worshiping forever, forever, forever and ever. That is the very definition of our existence.
Would you go back to chapter 3 verse 3 and remember with me what is my favorite definition of Christian. "We are the true circumcision," that is we have the true mark, what is it? "We worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh." That's...that's what a Christian is. A Christian is a worshiper who worships in the power of the Spirit, gives the glory to Christ, puts no confidence in the flesh. We are worshipers.
This should not surprise us. Go with me to John chapter 4, that marvelous discussion with the woman at the well in Samaria. And Jesus gives us a tremendous insight. In verse 23 He says to this woman in John 4, "An hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth...listen to this...for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." Marvelous statement.
Listen to me, salvation is all about the Father seeking worshipers. You are saved to worship. I was saved to worship. It's the Father seeking worshipers. And, those who worship Him, it says in verse 24, must worship in spirit...that is with all our inner being...but also in truth according to fact, according to truth. The object of redemption, beloved, was to make worshipers. And when we worship we are to worship in truth, that is we are to worship God truly as He is. So we are worshipers, to worship God forever and ever and ever and ever and ever.
Paul to the Philippians even identifies and to us this God. He says, "Now to our God and Father." Our God, what do you mean our God? The God of Christians, the only God, the only true God, the God of all saints. And the term "our" simply personalizes...our own personal God and the true God is implied in the term theos, the true God, the one God, the God who made heaven and earth and all that is in them.
So we are to worship the true God in a personal way because He is our God. Beloved, you can't worship the true God unless you know who He is. That's why Hosea says in chapter 6 verse 6 that God delights in the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings. God does not want ignorant sacrifices, He wants worship out of the knowledge of who He is. You cannot truly worship God if you do not understand who God is.
When we think about idolatry, we usually think about a primitive pagan in a mud hut, bowing down to some little god on the ground, or we imagine some gross pagan temple with elaborate ornate idols and burning incense. But listen, that is creating a false god and worshiping him. It is equally idolatrous to identify the true God but not understand the truth about Him. Idolatry goes beyond the idea of creating a false god, fundamentally, listen to this, idolatry is thinking thoughts about God that are untrue of Him. Or entertaining thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. That's equally idolatrous. And I submit to you that the blasphemy of the sanctuary far exceeds the blasphemy of the street. A.W. Tozer summed it up well. He wrote, "The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever reason above its religion. And man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God."
Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. Then he says, "For this reason the gravest question before the church is always God Himself. And the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like," end quote. Exactly right.
You cannot worship unless you worship the true God in the true way. Worship is always a response to truth and doctrine. And the doxologies of the Scripture...go through the New Testament and find the doxologies and they are outbursts of praise in response to great truth about God, truth which settles the issues of the heart. The only way to know God and understand all that is revealed about God is to make the knowledge of God the primary pursuit of your life, it must be the primary pursuit of the church. You cannot have a man-centered theology and be a true worshiper.
Furthermore, not only is doxological praise the response to the truth about God, but to the truth about God that God is the resource of His people. If I am not overwhelmed alone by who He is, I certainly can be overwhelmed by what He has done in providing His bounty for me, and that lies in the heart of Paul as well. He is not only praising God because God is a God who can supply everything, He is praising God for God is a God who has supplied everything. It is not only who He is and what He is capable of, it is who He is, what He is capable of and what He has already done. So wonderfully do we praise God in truth and truth alone.
But Paul doesn't stop there. He says, "Now to our God and Father." That's a wonderful addition. There is a sense in which throughout the New Testament God is called Father, related to being the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Frequently the New Testament writers speak of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that is intended to lead us to understand that He and God are equal...God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, equal in essence, bearing the same deity, the same common life.
But Paul's point here is that God is our Father in a filial way, in a family way. Unlike the pagans, we don't go fearfully, shamefully, threateningly before some deity. We go to one who loves us and is our Father, we go as little children. That's different than the worship of the world. That, by the way, is even different than the worship of the Old Testament where God is never identified as the personal Father to an individual Jew. If He's called Father at all in the Old Testament and it's very infrequent, it is only insofar as He fathered the nation Israel. Now all of a sudden, God is so personal that He is our God and our Father. And we go to Him to worship one who is personally attuned, sensitive to our needs.
Back in chapter 1 verse 2 it's the way he started, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father." God our Father, and he has that same thing in mind here. What a joy it is to realize that the God we worship we don't worship out of fear, we worship one who is related to us in a family way as our loving Father. And because of that Paul said of the Galatians, we can cry Daddy, Abba Father, we can go without fear to that great God.
Why does he add that? Because to contemplate our God would be lost in the wonder of His majesty, and might leave us a bit at distance, might lead us to conclude we better not approach such an infinitely wondrous majestic and holy God. And so when adding the word "Father" he immediately closes that gap between the sinner and the awesome holiness of his God.
Sainthood involves a proper worship...a proper worship, a worship in response to who God is and what He is able to do and what He has done for us. Beloved, you cannot worship any other way rightly, you must worship the true God according to the truth about Him revealed in Scripture. The pursuit of your life then, to be a true worshiper. In order to be a true worshiper, you must pursue the knowledge of the revelation of God so that you can worship Him in truth. The focus of the church must therefore be Godward, Godward, Godward, Godward, always looking at God, always looking at God. You say, "How do you best understand God?" Who came into the world to reveal God? Christ...to know Christ, to know Christ is to know God. And so we wi