Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore

A very rich and famous man who had traveled many places and spent a lot of money in pursuit of joy said to his son, “My son, it’s a bad world outside, an incredibly sad world. Beware, it will deceive you, promising to give you happiness. In my lifetime, I have searched everywhere, pursued joy in every imaginable avenue, and this is my discovery: there is no true joy or peace in this world. Don’t waste your life going after the world for joy. Everything promises happiness but soon disappoints you. Let me tell you where you cannot find joy.

• Not in Pleasure — from Solomon to every man who has lived a life of pleasure, all wrote, “it is vanity, chasing after wind.” All pleasures end in emptiness and disappointment.
• Not in Money — Rich billionaires, who have plenty of that, say, “Outside, I may be smiling; people may think I am very happy. I know inside I am the most miserable, sad man on earth. I can neither enjoy this life nor can I go to heaven because it is like a camel trying to go through the eye of a needle.”
• Not in Position and Fame — The greatest struggles and fears, the struggle to maintain a position or the fear of losing it, fill you with sleeplessness, restlessness, and depression, which can even lead to suicide among famous people.
• Not in Military Glory and Achievements — Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent for days before saying, “There are no more worlds to conquer.” When he died at age 32, his last wish was that both his hands would hang out of his coffin so that people in coming generations would understand that we come to this world empty-handed, and even if you conquer the whole world, you cannot find any joy in it. When we leave this world, we leave it empty-handed.
• Not in Unbelief — The worst unbeliever, Voltaire, the French philosopher, always mocking and challenging the Bible, the father of all unbelievers, wrote, “I wish I had never been born.”

Where, then, is real joy found? “My son, I have learned that a quiet and holy people have learned the great secret of true joy. They have found a joy that is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. This joy is so deep that nothing in present trials or future fears disturbs it. They are despised and persecuted, but they do not care. They have overcome the world. These people are called Christians. I became a Christian because the only place in the world where I found true joy is in Christ alone. My prayer is that you also find that true joy, because without it, your life will be a wasted, disappointed journey.” Wise advice to a son.

In a way, heeding the advice of that man, we have started our journey of joy through this marvelous epistle of Joy. Last week, we looked at verse 1 as an introduction to this letter:

Verse 1: “Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:”

There is so much in that one verse; you will not believe how much I missed telling you. I felt I was very fast last week, but I don’t want to be blamed, “Oh, he took seven years for Matthew; he may take four years for these four chapters.” I want to move fast. So, let me briefly review what we saw.

“FROM” person and address. Who wrote this letter? Although it is written by Paul and Timothy, Paul primarily writes it, and we saw why Timothy is added—to identify himself as one in fellowship, spirit, and ministry, and also because he may have been writing the letter as Paul dictated it. They call themselves “bondslaves of Jesus Christ,” a very rich word. Only when you and I are melted by Jesus Christ’s love and become his willing slaves can we find true joy. We saw from where they are writing: from a Roman jail, where Paul may either die or be released; his life is at stake.

“TO” persons. The recipients of the Epistle are not simply described as the Church at Philippi or the people of God, but the apostle, a brilliant man with Holy Spirit wisdom, in a sense, gives a summary of the meaning of a true biblical church in just a few words of greeting. Not every group is a church, and not every church that calls itself a church is a Bible church. In verse 1, Paul shows that a true Bible church has members whose basic spiritual condition is that they are saints. They are the separated, holy ones by the work of salvation.

Think of it, a very rich word. The term “holy” is a very special word in the Bible. Whatever is called holy is not ordinary or for common use. It is devoted to God; it is a devoted, sacred thing, not a common thing. So Paul says Christians are holy. God has made them his special people; they belong to him in a special way. This is an enormous privilege and position. Not everyone gets this position. This is the most dignified, highest position in the world.

Sometimes in life, we feel lost in a crowd. We feel we are just useless men or women; we feel insignificant and don’t seem to count. I heard a pastor from a big church in Bangalore preach. Nothing was correct: the theology was wrong, the exposition got zero marks, the logical sequence was completely absent. It was just babbling, going around and around, and he finally said something that was a complete twisting of Scripture—unbearable lies. But it got 90,000 views, 30,000 likes, and comments like, “What a blessed message, an a par excellence sermon, the greatest preacher.” I wondered if they were all paid comments to increase publicity. Frankly, I was a little discouraged. We preach so much truth with whatever depth God’s light has given us, ensuring no lies, only truth, doing a full-time job, and struggling to be faithful to the world. But people rarely hear us; no one cares to leave a comment.

We are faithful in preaching the truth whether people come or not or leave a comment. We may not be famous; we don’t seem to be making a difference. The world may not be listening to us or appreciating us. It is easy to be discouraged. Here, the Apostle Paul says, “Oh, faithful church of Jesus Christ in Philippi, you are saints; you are part of a glorious race of a glorious, holy nation.” Paul may use one word, but Peter shows in that word all the riches of all the Old Testament blessings are included. Peter explains in 2 Peter 2:9, saying, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

God says, “Out of all the earth, I have chosen you, this man and this woman, in eternity to be my special saints. You are my own possession.” You belong to him, dedicated to him. We wonder what it is about us for God to choose us as his special, holy ones. Notice, “saints in Christ Jesus.” “In Christ” always speaks of the glorious truth of our inseparable union with the Son of God. We have studied a lot about this. It is an amazing truth. Christ loved to talk about this union again and again. I hope it is your favorite subject. There is something mysterious, beyond human explanation. There is an inseparable, eternal bond between a believer and Christ. Sometimes you sit down and think what it means to be united to Jesus Christ. You will never fully exhaust the subject. The Bible uses all kinds of examples for that, like a man and a woman united in the closest relationship, or like a branch united to a vine, where life flows to the branch from the vine. And then it rises in an awestruck way, as Jesus likened it to his union with the Father. The Trinitarian union. Well, that should shock us. “As I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, so I am in you and you are in me.” These are lofty things.

How did we become saints? Not because of anything we did, but in that eternal union with Christ. We are legally united to Christ. When he lived, died, suffered, and rose again, we lived, died, and rose again in him. After he saved us, there is a mystical union bond between every believer on earth and Jesus Christ in heaven through the Holy Spirit. That is why we are saints in Christ Jesus. It is a mysterious subject of our communion. We are saints devoted to God, united to God the son.

Then he describes them with reference to their specific geographical location. They are in Philippi. And then he describes them in terms of their visible form and organization: “Saints in Jesus Christ with overseers and deacons.” A true Christian is just spiritually united to Jesus Christ in faith, but all true Christians will be part of a visible local church. They will be organized into a local church with pastors and deacons. These saints functioned as a local church. They committed themselves to the local church as members. They lived, subjecting themselves to the leaders in that church, and were faithful to church rules, faithful in all the meetings, and gathered as a church body.

There is something wrong if you say you are a believer, live in a private, personal religion, and keep floating around with the excuse of trying to find a perfect church, and you never become a part of a church or live a church-committed life. That is very wrong; it is an abnormality. Nowadays, after COVID, many Christians say, “Oh yes, we just attend church through Zoom meetings, we switch on the live stream.” That is very wrong. If you do not gather as a church physically in all important meetings under pastors and deacons, you are not part of the church. New Testament Christians always identified themselves as part of a local church. This epistle, and in fact, every epistle, was written to a church, not to individual Christians.

It is a sin and rebellion against the command of God and a grieving of the Holy Spirit to be a Christian and be outside a church for many years. So Paul describes the church not only by their spiritual condition as saints, but as an organization of a local church under pastors and deacons.

We also looked at the background of the city of Philippi. It was a gold mine, very famous, a strategic location, and a Roman colony that enjoyed all the benefits of Pax Romana, Roman peace, self-government, no tax, and the citizen privileges of Rome, and was very loyal to Caesar. We also looked at the history of the birth of the church in such a place, from Acts 16, and the marvelous way this church was born. Paul and his friends crossed the sea and land for the first time and landed on the soil of Europe, and through three initial members—Lydia, a businesswoman; a demon-possessed slave girl; and a Philippian jailer—the church was born.

I was telling this at home: We tell the glorious true story of the Philippian jailer who changed Europe, but people in our whole country are celebrating the Rajnikanth movie, Jailer. That is all the world can find. People think true joy can be found in watching and celebrating a fictional movie, but those joys last for a day, a week, or a month. But let me invite you to a world of joy that will never end.

Today, before we enter this world of joy, we have to open two doors and go inside. Those doors are mentioned to us in verse 2:

Verse 2: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Door 1 is grace, and door 2 is peace. We can say this is the main theme of Paul in the entire epistle. We can enter into the world of joy only when we realize this is a world of grace and peace. So, I titled the message “Welcome to a world of grace and peace.”

In fact, every letter Paul wrote, he starts with this kind of greeting. But it’s a strange fact that most people, when they see something very, very regularly, actually fail to see it at all, or at least they fail to see it in any meaningful way. It is very true with these apostolic benedictions, which are found at the beginning of all 13 epistles Paul wrote. Christians read them in a very neglectful sort of way, and so they derive no benefit from them; some even skip this. It is sad. We could probably do that with worldly books, but every word in the Bible is God-breathed, and God the Holy Spirit thinks something is important enough to repeat it not once or twice but almost 13 times. He really means that there’s something here of vital significance.

So today, I want us to fix our attention on this greeting. Now, because these words, with some minor alterations, are found in all of the Pauline 13 Epistles, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can grasp the depth of these words here. Every time we read these words in the New Testament, today’s message can become a key to open the richness of these words.

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Although it takes six to seven seconds to read this verse, this is a summary of the whole of Christianity, and someone said only eternity can expound the profound significance of those words. You will realize the depth as we look at this.

Though in the first century, many worldly letters started like this, when Paul wrote “grace and peace to you,” what did he mean by the use of those words? This is coming from the mouth of the apostle as a gift and a blessing to the Philippi church, and we can believe as we read it that it is coming to our church because he writes in the same way to all churches. Let us imagine the great apostle standing before us this morning and saying these words:

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is not just a wish or even a prayer; this is God’s great, eager blessings coming to us through the means of apostolic benediction. Paul with apostolic authority can proclaim to every true believer united to Jesus Christ, every saint, and every person who is devoted to a local church. If you are all that verse 1 says, you will definitely, 100%, receive grace and peace. What if you are not a true believer in a local church? In that case, the Lord told us what will happen to apostolic blessing in Matthew 10 when the Lord sent 12 disciples to preach and gave them authority to do miracles, sending them as his apostles. In verses 12 and 13, “And when you go into a household, greet it. Greet with grace and blessing. If the household is worthy, your peace will come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.” So this is a definite blessing coming to a true church.

Let us look at the words first: “Grace.” One of the sweetest words in the entire Bible is “grace.” It is used 124 times in the New Testament, 86 of which are from the Apostle Paul, which means two-thirds of all the uses of the word “grace” in the Bible are from one author: Paul. No wonder he’s called “the apostle of grace.”

The most-sung attribute of God is the grace of God. Songwriters sing about “amazing grace,” “wonderful grace,” “marvelous grace,” “miraculous grace,” “free grace,” “sovereign grace,” “unconditional grace,” and “irresistible grace.” The marvelous grace God shows to miserable sinners is so wondrous, sweet, with so many angles, and infinitely deep.

In Christianity, more than anything, you and I have to understand the meaning of grace. Without grasping the concept of grace, you cannot come rightly to God because grace is the basis of all God’s dealings with us. There is a world of false Christianity only because they fail to understand grace. If there is one reason you do not have consistent victory over sin, you will struggle with guilt, you will lack joy and peace, and you will lack the motivation to serve God, it is because you have not understood the concept of grace in depth.

We can do a detailed study, but let me briefly explain. It is an expansive word. It is used in a number of ways in the New Testament. The usual simple definition of grace means unmerited favor. A person is undeserving and completely unworthy; he doesn’t deserve respect, our help, or any favor, but we still show him respect and help him. That is grace. It doesn’t come from how good and worthy the other person is but from the heart of the giver. At a human level, this is rare.

When we talk about the grace of God, just like all his other attributes, his grace is like God: infinite and eternal. The grace of God is the free favor of God, showering his infinite, eternal blessings on the guilty and the unworthy sinners. It is given spontaneously and freely, with no compulsion, to completely undeserving, ill-deserving, and hell-deserving sinners, with no merit in them. No compensation is demanded from them, and it is unsought and unattracted by anything in them. Grace cannot be bought, earned, or won. It can only be given freely. There are two things to keep in mind: it flows freely from God’s heart, and it is given to completely undeserving people.

I think of one of the most beautiful pictures of grace in the entire Bible, like a lightning flash, in 2 Samuel 9. I called it “bubbling grace.” We already briefly saw 2 Samuel 9 in David’s story. Mephibosheth was the grandson of Saul, who was an enemy of David. When David became king, Mephibosheth went and hid because in those days, kings would ensure the previous king’s descendants were killed so they would not start a rebellion. Mephibosheth was a crippled man because when he was small, a servant carrying him in a hurry slipped and dropped him. He fell down, and his legs were crushed.

Imagine the state of Mephibosheth. You are coming from a family of the worst king, his entire family has been killed, he is the only descendant living from his family, and generally, if the king finds out, they will cut off his head. This guy lost everything, cannot even work because both his legs are gone. He is living in the outskirts of the slum area of Lodebar, the land of nothing. Maybe he is even begging, eating leftovers and spit, and living in fear of when they will find and kill him.

One day, David’s soldiers come to his house, lift him up, and bring him to David. Imagine him. He thought it was his worst day; he feared he was going to be killed. Poor Mephibosheth came and fell trembling at David’s feet, poor and pathetic with two feet, with sweat and tears, hoping at least David would leave him alive. The royal king David, sitting on the throne, says to Mephibosheth, “Do not fear, I will not kill you.” Mephibosheth breathed a sigh of relief, very happy. “I thought for sure I was dead. Oh king, I am supposed to be killed. I deserve to be killed; my family and I rebelled against you. You are right to kill me. But you sparing me is great mercy.”

The amazing thing is that David says, “Mephibosheth, not only will I not kill you, but I am going to give you back all the riches and inheritance of your grandfather, Saul.” This guy cannot believe this is real. He may be dreaming. He is shocked. Then David says, “Not only that, I am going to adopt you as my child, and as my adopted king’s child, you are going to live with me in my palace, and you will eat with me every day at my royal king’s table all our life.” Oh, he almost fainted and went into a coma in shock. “Oh, enough, enough.”

David doesn’t stop. He keeps showing favor. If this was not enough, he calls one guy, Ziba, a servant who has 15 sons and 20 servants. “All those will be your servants.” This is more than the guy can bear. He stands there with bubbling tears from his eyes; it says in verse 8, “Then he bowed himself, and said, ‘What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?'”

“Oh, King, what am I? A dead dog, not even an alive dog, but a dead dog.” Not a dead human body but a dead dog—a pitiable, disgusting, dead corpse, unworthy of even a respectable burying. “I will be eaten by vultures. I am so disgusting, like a dead, smelling dog. Will anyone look at such a dog? Oh, King, I don’t even deserve for you to look at me. What is this bubbling grace for such a dead dog like me? Why all this for me, so undeserving, living on Lodebar, begging for each meal, eating leftovers from others’ plates? I thought my head would go today.”

“But you not only spare my life, raise me from garbage and give me a vast inheritance, and adopt me as your child. You took me into your family, adopted me, and when I come, I will be treated as the son of a king and always sit at the table reserved for me.” This was overwhelming for Mephibosheth. He was amazed. That guy stands there with eyes full of tears. Can you imagine Mephibosheth’s feelings? “Why all this riches on me? What is the meaning of this? I don’t deserve any of this.” David says, “I want to show you the grace of God. You don’t deserve anything, Mephibosheth; you need to die, but it is not because of you. Because of your father Jonathan, I want to show you this grace.” This is a beautiful picture of grace. This grace is so powerful; it transformed this man’s heart so much. His heart was not on the land or blessing or food, but he loved David more than anything all his life, who showed such grace to such an undeserving dead dog.

People, this is just a dim shadow of the grace of God. In an infinitely higher way, the bubbling grace of God is shown to people like you and me. We were living in Lodebar, crippled and undone in the fall of Adam. We lost everything; we were dead in our sins and transgressions, wallowing in the gutter, cannot even come to God, totally depraved. Why should God save you and me? Not because of anything we have done. It started in the heart of God, on the basis of what Jesus has done for Jesus’ sake. The grace of God came to us in our Lodebar of sin, brought us to the king. We thought he was going to kill us for our sins, but the king said, “Do not fear, I will show grace.” We said, “What does that mean?” He forgave all our sins, washed us of all filth, and justified us. Not only did he give us back all we lost in our father Adam, but he rose above that and adopted us as his children and gave us an eternal, unfading, and imperishable inheritance. He made us part of the Trinitarian family by uniting us to his son, and he made all his great number of angels our servants, and you are going to live a royal life in my fellowship and my family’s fellowship as one of my sons for all eternity. In the life you live in this world, whatever happens in life, as a Father, God promises to take care of all our needs and promises he will control providence and turn everything that happens for our good. If Mephibosheth was overwhelmed with gratitude for the grace shown by a sinful man like David, think of the grace of God, how much it should overwhelm us.

So when Paul says, “Grace to you,” he welcomes us to an amazing world of grace. As you enter and look up, from one end of the sky to the other end, it is all grace, infinite grace, where we are not treated as we deserve, as in the world of merit, but we are treated according to grace. “Why? I don’t deserve it. What did I do to deserve it?” It is not based on what I did, but on what my Jonathan, Jesus, did for us and in us. In this world of grace, the full sky from one end to the other is all grace.

Everything in this world of grace works based on grace. Then you turn and look back at the past, at how it all started—the plan of redemption and salvation by grace. You see an infinite ocean of past eternity of love. Billions and billions of years ago, stretch your mind as much as you want, before the world began, before heaven began, God elected us in eternity. There was Lydia in Philippi, the jailer (not the Rajnikanth actor, but the Philippian jailer), and Murali in Bangalore. Why? His election was by grace. 2 Timothy 1:9 says, “according to his grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

Then you look at the accomplishment of redemption/salvation. Then we see behind us in history, 2000 years ago, God dropped his son to the lowest level of becoming a human. Why did Jesus leave all his glory and come down as a poor baby in a manger? 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” He might make us rich, like Mephibosheth. It is by that grace he lived the life I should have, earning perfect righteousness. It is by that grace he took upon his own dear holy body punishment and wrath, suffering for each of my sins, every sin I would commit and would commit in the future. Oh no, why am I so ungrateful that I sin even after salvation? It is not based on what you do; it is all grace. He died, suffered, and rose again. He accomplished redemption by grace.

Then you think of the application of salvation. It is by grace that God came searching for you in your Lodebar slum like a lively pig wallowing in the gutter, not willing to come out. Though crippled, he effectually bought you out of the gutter, called you, and regenerated you in a great operation that opened your eyes, enlightened your mind, renewed your will enslaved to sin, changed your heart, and then he justified and saved you. That is why Acts 20:24, the Gospel is called the “Gospel of the grace of God.” The concept of grace is so central to the Gospel that it’s a synonym for the Gospel.

Amazing grace. Grace that planned salvation. Grace purchased salvation. Grace applies salvation. You know the amazing thing about this grace? We think, “Oh, it elected us, purchased salvation, saved us; enough, enough.” God says, “My son, this is the beginning of my grace.” This grace never ends with just initially saving us. No, that is only the beginning of grace. You have not seen anything. This grace will continue to increase more and more in our lives and until it safely takes us home. The full revelation of grace will only happen at the second coming of Jesus Christ when you are glorified with him. That is why Peter, in 1 Peter 1:13, says, “fix your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is as if to say you have not seen anything of God’s grace yet.

Oh, my brothers and sisters, welcome to this world of grace. Not only up, the sky is full of grace from end to end. The past is all full of grace. When you look forward, oh, grace will reveal a deep, infinite ocean of God’s love that will not only cover all your lifespan but for all eternity. This grace, like ocean waves, will never rest but keep coming to you daily, hourly, every second, meeting all your needs, giving you strength to face all trials and temptations, sanctifying you, and keeping coming until it takes you to heaven. Peter says, “grace be multiplied,” meaning “increase manifold,” move from lesser to greater.

All developments in the Christian life and all that sanctifies me as a child of God are by grace. Scripture is the word of grace, and prayer, Bible reading, preaching, church fellowship, the Lord’s prayer, and baptism are all means of grace. All gifts of ministry are from grace.

“Why, why, why, Lord, so much grace?” Paul says when all is done, in Ephesians 1:6, the great end of our salvation is “to the praise of the glory of his grace.” God will glorify and reveal how infinitely gracious He is through what he has done to you and me in his son. What a blessed truth! Do you realize why songwriters say it is “amazing grace”? The word itself is heaven. Welcome to a world of grace. Look up: the infinite sky is full of grace. Look back: the past, present, and all future time and eternity are all infinite oceans of God’s grace on you.

Oh, brothers and sisters, you are under the grace of God. Welcome to a world of grace. Not only is there grace, but the inevitable result of entering this world of grace is peace. Welcome again to the world of peace. Peace is inseparable from grace.

When we hear “peace,” we should think about our personal notions of what we assume is peace. We see a lake on which there are no waves, and we say, “Well, the lake was very peaceful this morning.” But the biblical meaning of peace is deeper than that.

Especially for Jewish people, they would greet one another with the word “shalom.” It meant more than, “Be peaceful in the family and have no fights with your wife and with your kids.” It meant, “May every form of prosperity and blessing rest upon you, the cessation of every conflict, inside and outside. May everything in your life be as God wants it to be.”

Grace is not only a dominant biblical word, but peace is as well. Romans 5 says that because of what Christ has done for us, we can fully believe we are justified before God. God sees us as fully righteous. When we believe that, we have peace with God. There is no conflict or enmity between me and God. It is removed because of Christ’s work. When we believe in justification, that is, we have peace with God, we can experience the peace of God in our hearts.

Though our carnal mind is enmity against God, in the Gospel, God overcomes that as well by the regenerating work of the Spirit, bringing us to consciously and joyfully experience the peace of God in us. The fruit of the Spirit is peace. But, “Pastor, I don’t have peace.” “How can I experience it as a believer?” In this joy epistle, Philippians 4:7, we will study a wonderful verse: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The word is that the peace of God will guard you like Roman soldiers who will guard their Caesar so nothing disturbs him. The peace of God will guard you from any worry.

You know, one of the greatest forms of wealth Christ left for us believers is peace. He said, “I leave my peace with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Every time he appeared after his resurrection, what did he say? “Peace unto you, peace unto you.” This is a grace gift for every child of God.

Now, you see, this matter of peace is so central to the Gospel that the Gospel is not only called the “Gospel of the grace of God,” but it’s called the “Gospel of peace” in Romans 10:15. In Ephesians, Paul, instead of saying Christ came and preached the Gospel through us, says, “Christ came and preached peace to those who were afar off and peace to those who were near.”

And so, grace and peace are the great spiritual blessings Paul pronounced in this great greeting. The order is very significant. It is grace and then peace. For, apart from the grace of God, there can be no peace with God, nor peace of God in the human heart. Unless you deeply grasp and realize the grace of God, you can never experience the true peace of God. This peace comes into a heart that realizes God is a God of grace, and when God is our friend of grace, all is well with us. The foundation of experiential peace is realizing, “I have peace with God.” The objective condition is constant and essential; the feeling may not always be present.

Well, having briefly considered the meaning of the words, now notice, as we conclude our study this morning, the source of these blessings as they are declared by the apostle. “Grace and peace from…” This is the direction from which they come: “God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The apostle is speaking as a messenger of God, proclaiming these two blessings on the church, but the source of this peace is not the apostle, nor is it from the Jerusalem church. No, it is “grace and peace from God,” not just “the Father,” but “God, our Father.”

In other words, the grace and peace have their source in God, who is our Father to all who, through their faith, are in union with Christ. God is the Father of Christ, so God has become the Father of all those united to Christ. This grace and peace come to them as the sons and daughters of God, and the apostolic greeting will definitely reach them and does not return void. So that when you, as a child of God, read in these greetings “grace to you and peace,” don’t read them as empty words.

God himself is saying, “My child who has believed in the gospel of my son… Welcome to a world of my grace and peace. Open your eyes; see above you, an infinite sky/canopy of my grace is stretched over you. See around you; infinite ocean waves of my grace keep coming to you every second, like the never-resting waves. The great, inexhaustible sea of my grace is full and is open to you. Grace to you, and peace from God, our Father.”

What a God he is! This is not some small, false god. This great, living, one true God, who is the creator of the universe, the God who is the governor and righteous judge of the world, is infinite in holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, but now, in the Gospel, he has become the Father of every believing soul at Philippi.

And everyone—the weakest, the meanest, the most ignorant of those believers—is to regard himself as under this sky/canopy of grace, standing under this perpetual shower of grace, coming down from God, his Father. When he sees you, though you may be crippled like Mephibosheth, undeserving, and dirty, God covers you with an infinite sky of grace and fills your heart with peace because of Jesus Christ.

Then notice, this grace not only comes from “God, our Father,” but also from “the Lord Jesus Christ.” Our Father is the fountainhead, but the great channel is the one who is Lord. He uses this full title and name of our Redeemer. And bound up in those titles and names is the whole essence of biblical theology concerning the person and work of Christ. Those are not empty words.

He is not an ordinary person. Firstly, he is Lord. And that title, “Lord,” immediately points to two things. It points to his present position of exaltation and power. Paul will expand upon that in chapter two. But it also points to the inherent dignity of his person as God. And so, in the word “Lord,” you have a reference to his person and to his position. It makes a big difference from whom this blessing comes.

It points to his sovereign authority and rule. He is the sovereign ruler not only of Rome but of the entire world and universe. Jesus Christ is exalted above every name. He rules all the universe and governs all the events of all history. Every atom in this world moves according to his wish and pleasure. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him as Lord. He will ensure and run the providence in Philippi and today in Bangalore, to ensure those saints in the small church in Philippi and we here will always have grace and peace.

Secondly, not only is he Lord, but Jesus. It should be a very sweet and comforting name. He is not a transcendent, untouchable Lord. This is talking about his humanity. He sits there as a human being, as our representative, with the marks of the wounds he received to save us and bring us to heaven safely. There is nothing more important to that exalted Lord Jesus than his church, which is his body, being united to him by which we are made saints. From his human experience and with his human body now, though he is exalted above everything, he knows every small thing about your life: your heart condition, even your inmost sighs, tears, burdens, and fears. Not only big things but even the smallest thing. Nobody may know what is in your heart; he knows. For every circumstance, he is able and willing to give you all grace and peace for every situation. He was tempted in all ways, just as we are, knowing human pain and discouragement. He is a sympathetic high priest who makes unceasing intercession for us so that when we go to his throne of grace, we can receive mercy and help suitable for every situation in our lives. His humanity ensures that though he is highly exalted, he is completely in sympathy with us and knows our pains and ensures grace and peace are given. Oh, what joy that grace and peace come from the human Jesus who knows everything in sympathy.

Then, he is not only Lord and Jesus, but he is Christ. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, God’s Messiah, God’s anointed prophet, and the final word to man. His grace will reveal all sanctifying truths to us; his prophetic ministry will reveal the secret wisdom of the ages to us in grace. He is God’s anointed priest, the final sacrifice and perpetual intercessor. Are you guilty, feeling the burden of sin with a guilty conscience? His grace will bring forgiveness, who will present his one-time sacrifice and always make intercession for us and ensure God’s regular supply of grace, forgiveness, pardon, and righteousness, and accept our prayers, praises, and worship. And he is God’s anointed King, to rule the universe for his church in grace and to destroy all his and his people’s enemies, to bring them all safely, at last, home with himself. It is from the Lord Jesus Christ that these blessings proceed.

Do you see how rich this greeting is? Not one sermon, but many sermons. Let me stop here. Do you see that our greatest need is in this verse? Oh, we need grace and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, it is through the agent of the Holy Spirit that this grace becomes an experiential reality to us. So, grace and peace are from the whole Trinity.

This grace which elected you, sent his son, saved you, and gathered you as a church, will continue to keep flowing to you to meet all your needs for time and eternity. What amazing grace this is! This grace is what will make all the difference in our life. Every step of progress to heaven comes by grace. If we have become more sanctified, we need more grace. If our work has succeeded, we need grace. We need grace and peace.

Application

God says this morning to you and me, “My child in GRBC, saints in GRBC, committed to church under pastors and deacons, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” As we begin our journey in our faith, can you open these two doors of grace and peace and enter this world of grace and peace? Let me welcome you.

Do you see? Just this second verse of the apostolic greeting of this marvelous epistle is enough to make us joyful all our lives. God is my Father, Jesus Christ is my Lord, I am a child of the eternal God, his unending grace will always flow, and that grace is sufficient for time and eternity. All sufficiency of this grace should make us very joyful and fill our hearts with peace. This is the full and complete sufficiency of redemptive provision. This is all-sufficient grace.

Do not allow unbelief to spoil this. “Oh, it may not be for me.” Unbelief is what hinders us from entering and enjoying God’s blessings. Oh, never doubt God’s grace. Whatever state you may be in, grace doesn’t come because you are worthy; it comes from the heart of God for Jesus’ sake. This is a certainty. If you appropriate this verse in faith and come to the throne of grace, you will certainly receive suitable grace for your situation in life. He announces it as a certainty. This is what God gives to his people who have believed his son and hold fast to his church. They receive grace and peace in the assembly of his people.

Remember, Paul knows that he’s writing not to glorified saints, but to all the saints in Philippi. They have the same problems like we have. We will see two sisters fighting with one another. Some are affected with false teaching. He’s also conscious of other areas of need. But he does not say only “advanced saints.” No, regardless of the present problems and present areas of arrested growth, present areas of deficient understanding or experience, he says the sky canopy of sufficient grace is spread over all of you. “Grace to you to whom?” “All the saints at Philippi.”

What is your problem this morning? What is your need today? See them in faith in all-sufficient grace that will make you so joyful. You may have some struggles in your life, struggling with sins. Here is God telling you from God: “grace and peace.” Ever-forgiving grace and cleansing mercy that comes from grace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some are struggling in their rich city with the deceitfulness of riches. Remember now, Philippi was a Roman colony, a city full of gold. All around them, they heard the language, “Caesar is Lord. Caesar is Lord. Caesar is Lord. Look what Caesar can do. Look what Rome has done for you. Look at all your privileges as citizens of Rome.” Like some of us may be struggling, “Oh, how rich people enjoy so much. They have big names, big fame. I am nobody. What do I have?”

Paul says, “Look at your privileges as citizens of the kingdom of which Christ is Lord.” This world, with all its lusts and glory, will pass away soon, but his kingdom’s glory is forever. See what you are: a saint in Jesus Christ, in the highest position, the highest citizen of the eternal kingdom, with the highest privileges. You have perpetual grace and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Something Caesar can never give. Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords, above Caesar. Grace and peace be to you from the Lord, the greatest imperishable spiritual riches from the Lord.

Oh believer, have you entered into this world and basked below the sky of infinite grace and peace? Can you hear the apostles standing, as it were, by his word in your midst, saying, “Grace and peace to you” and say this greeting? And wonder of wonders, though I don’t deserve to go to be at David’s table, I deserve to have my head cut off and be thrown in the garbage of hell, but grace took me from the garbage and made me sit with the king so he can glorify his grace through me for all eternity. Welcome to this world and bask in the sunshine of grace.

May I encourage you this morning to enter in faith into this world of grace and peace and see that all your needs are in this world. What is that worrying you today? Philippians 4 says, “Do not worry about anything at all, but with prayer, make your requests known to God.” He will answer your prayers in his time. Meanwhile, the peace of God will guard your hearts. Take every need, ask for all your needs, and let God know all your needs. I have never prayed so openly since I realized God’s infinite grace. Tell God everything. You cannot ask for more than his grace can give, and see, it is all covered in this world. This is the sufficiency of God’s redemptive provisions for us. God condemns wicked unbelief, but nowhere do we find him condemning someone for expecting too much of grace. Child of God, enter and rejoice in this world of grace that is over you and around you, and then you will know more and more of that blessed peace within you.

For those of you who have not come to become believing saints in Christ by uniting yourself in faith to Christ and becoming a part of the church, if you are outside Christ and his church, these words have no meaning for you. They cannot be pronounced and received by you. Why? Because you have never realized your condition as a sinner and realized it is only the grace of God that can save you.

Today, God extends grace to you through the Gospel of his son. You will not receive grace if you come like a Pharisee, saying, “Oh, God, look at how good a man I am. Though I’m crippled like Mephibosheth, I was deserving because I am the king’s grandson, Saul’s son. I deserve this and that.” No, you come saying, “God, I am a useless, stinking dead dog. Have mercy on me for the sake of your son.” God’s promise is that every sinner who comes in that posture will be shown grace immediately, so you know him as his Father.

The Bible says there is no peace for the wicked. Just like that father said you cannot find joy in this world anywhere. Our world is full of tension. Those who are rich, popular, and famous and those who seek the pleasures of the world do not have peace. Young people, you see the ways of Christianity and the ways of the world. A question comes: whether you are going to follow Christianity or join the world. You get pulled in two directions. You have to make a decision. Let me tell you, there is no peace in the world.

When the world has danced enough and sung enough, their final song is always a song of sadness and suicide. We see today’s evening, hoping they will find peace at least after death, but they don’t realize there is a life beyond death. There is no peace in the world. They live trying to find peace and die trying to find peace, but they find eternal hell and burning, and no peace even for one second for all eternity. Why do you continue on that path?

Why do you delay? The Bible says there is no peace for the wicked. They are like the troubled sea. Every accusation of conscience is like a wave dashing upon the shore of the consciousness of the unconverted. No peace, no rest. Why? Because there has been no reception of grace. It is only grace that can give you peace. Come as a sinful Mephibosheth; God will pour out his grace, and you will find true peace.