Spiritual Stability, Part 1: Introduction (Philippians 4:1) John MacArthur

Let’s open our Bibles together to  Philippians chapter 4. We are going   to embark upon a wonderful new study of the  first nine verses of this great chapter,   and the title of our study over the next several  weeks is Spiritual Stability. Spiritual Stability.   There are many things that we shall find in  this, the last chapter in the rich epistle   we’ve studied for a number of months, that  are already familiar to us. There are many   portions of this particular chapter that  perhaps you have even committed to memory.   There are some very familiar portions. As is  often the case in those chapters and sections   of Scripture with which we are familiar with  certain verses or certain phrases, sometimes   we miss the overall intent. We may see the trees  but not the forest. We may understand the parts   but not the whole. We may be able to capture  a few basic principles but not the reason why.

I want us to see the big subject and  its components as we look at this great   chapter. In order to do that, we have to take  verses 1 to 9 as a unit, and the theme of these   verses is spiritual stability. It introduces us, I  believe, to a subject that is of great importance.   I am convinced that it’s fair to say that the  church of Jesus Christ in our country today   has experienced a great amount of instability.  From the leadership on down, it tends to be an   unstable church. It is unstable in the sense that  its own leaders do not seem to be able to stand   against the wiles of the devil – they appear to  be unstable. I received a letter this morning,   reading it on my desk, from a well-known  evangelical who said to me, “My heart is broken   because seven of my dear friends have defaulted  from the ministry in the last year” and pleaded,   as it were, with me and before God somehow to  find a way to deal with this great instability,   this great vulnerability that is demonstrated  in the fall of those in spiritual leadership.

It is an unstable church. It is a church  fraught with problems and anxiety and worry.   It is a church that seems ever and always to  be trying to patch itself up, to fix itself,   to solve its almost inestimable number of  problems. It is my judgment that the church,   in fact, is unstable and it is unstable because it  has not come to grips with the biblical principles   of stability. It tends to pursue stability in  areas where it does not live, reside, exist.   It tends to be seeking answers that aren’t  there, solutions that are short-term, at best. Now, we can grant the assumption that the  church will be under attack. Jesus said it,   “In this world you shall have” – what?  – “tribulation,” John 16. He said,   “There will be days when people will actually  persecute you, take your life, do to you what   they did to Me. They will take you before their  courts, they will throw you in their prisons;   expect it.” There is a hostile world, there is  a hostile flesh, and there is a hostile devil   and you will be in conflict. The Scriptures  warn us that we must be watchful. Jesus said,  

“Watch and pray.” Be alert, be aware is a ringing  theme in the words of Peter and Paul. The devil   moves around like a roaring lion, seeking  whom he may devour. The flesh, as it were,   stalks the redeemed self to debilitate it,  to distract it. There is the world with all   of its allurements that endeavors to entice  the believer. We are always under assault. In our personal lives, there will be times  of persecution and trial – severe trial.   Subtle persecution in our society, which I think  sometimes is more difficult than that which is   not so subtle. I think in a society where being  a Christian costs you your life and where being   a Christian makes you a prisoner and where being  a Christian shuts you off from society altogether,   once you have declared yourself a Christian  and it’s cut and dried, it might be easier   to maintain that testimony than in our society  where we are accepted by the world to the degree   that we want their acceptance, and somehow we  are afraid to make our Christianity an issue,   and so subtly we compromise because we are  caught between being different and being part,   whereas in a society where you’re definitely  apart from the system, there’s no subtly.  

I think our persecutions may  be, in some ways, harder. I remember a Russian pastor saying to  me right on that front row through an   interpreter – I said to him, “How is it to  pastor a church? Is it difficult?” He said,   “It’s easy. You always know where everyone  stands.” He said, “What I don’t understand is how   in the world you can pastor a church in America  where the compromises are so common and subtle.” We have that persecution. We also face personal  trials and troubles that cause us to break down   in terms of our trust, that make us nervous  and anxious and cause us to worry and fret and   fume and retaliate and feel vengeance and carry  bitterness and bear sorrow. And where do we go to   get fixed? We have problems in our marriages  and in our families, struggles and dilemmas,   and we pursue solutions and resolution. We fight  even in our own lives strong temptation to sin,   and the world is very clever in its  allurements and the flesh is very   vulnerable and the devil is very aggressive,  and it is very much a battle to stay stable.

And that is really what is on Paul’s heart here.  Don’t be under any illusions about the Philippian   church. It is true that the Philippians had a  special love bond with Paul. There’s no question   about it. It is true that they alone had shared  with him, as we shall see later in chapter 4,   in the middle of his need. It is true that he had  a love for them that maybe surpassed some others,   a bond that was perhaps unique and had been  cultivated through the years mutually. It   is true that he had a passionate longing to  fellowship with them. There was a deep caring   between them. But that does not mean that  the Philippian church was in all respects   everything it ought to be and that does not  mean that there was not instability there.   In fact, reading through Philippians as far as  we have already, now coming to the last chapter,   we have noted very clear hints that  there was selfishness in that church,   that there was self-interest in that church,  that there were people who had stumbled and   fallen from their spiritual stability into  conceit and pride and were more concerned   about the things of their own life than the things  of others. They did not have the mind of Christ.

We also know that there was some conflict in  that church of major proportions, which will be   dealt with in verses 2 and 3 of this chapter. Two  women who apparently may have been able to lead   factions that could have split the church, they  had an intense disagreement, and others were no   doubt party to the quarrel. Two women who couldn’t  agree doesn’t seem like a lot of problems except   the fact is, these were two prominent women, and  apparently it was significant enough for Paul   to have identified the women by name in verse 2.  What may be equally troubling is that in verse 3,   he has to ask somebody to fix it up, which means  apparently the leadership of the church had not   really done what they should have done in dealing  with the problem. That, too, was a failure. So there was some stumbling and some instability  in leadership as well as in the congregation. It   is obvious also that there was some depression  there in that church, some unfounded sorrow, some   harshness of spirit, some anxiety, some failure  to take prayer seriously. There were some troubled   minds. There were some minds filled with all the  wrong kinds of things who needed to think on the   right kind of things. There were some people who  weren’t trusting God. There were some people who   weren’t thankful. In other words, it was a church,  just a plain old church, just like every church,  

and there were all levels of spiritual  stability, all levels of spiritual strength. Paul is deeply concerned for the stability of  this congregation. But it wasn’t just Paul. I   mean this is reflected through the whole  of the New Testament. Jesus was concerned   about the stability of the church. I think  about it in the restoration of Peter at the   last of John’s gospel in that final chapter  where Jesus restores Peter back to function,   and as Peter begins immediately then to manifest  another weakness, He says, “Stop right there and   do what I tell you. Follow Me and it will cost  you your life. Be strong.” That’s really the   intent of what He said if not the words. Jesus  was concerned about the strength of His disciples. In Matthew chapter 10, He clearly delineated for  them to anticipate difficulty, anticipate trials.   He repeatedly pointed out to them the weakness  of their flesh, the weakness of their faith,   wanting in some ways to instruct and  insulate them from future instability,   and so this becomes a rather constant theme in  the New Testament and I think one that needs to be   addressed in the church in which we live today. We  have a very unstable church. Unstable leadership,  

unstable congregations, and sadly trying  to prop themselves up with all the wrong   things. So for a number of weeks, I want  to speak to you on spiritual stability. I stand in the succession of the apostles, in  a sense. You remember Peter in 2 Peter 2:14? He   wrote about false teachers and agents of Satan  who were always attempting to – and here was   his phrase: “entice unstable souls.” Do you  realize that that is part of pastoral duty,   to somehow try to protect those unstable  souls? Why do you think Paul warned for   three years in his ministry in Ephesus with  tears? Why does Peter repeat things and say,   “I’ve told you these things over and over again  to put you in remembrance so that when I’m not   there you can stay strong”? Because they concerned  themselves with the stability of unstable souls.

Peter even said in 2 Peter 3:16 that Paul’s  letters, the great inspired epistles of Paul,   were taken by, he says, untaught and unstable  people, and they distorted the writing of Paul   to their own destruction. What a statement – boy,  they’re not alone, folks. They are not alone.   There are many untaught and unstable people  today who are distorting the teaching of Paul,   who are distorting the teaching of  Scripture, who are confusing people,   who are misrepresenting and  misinterpreting the Word of God. James warned about the same thing.   James said that the spiritually unstable are the  double-minded, people who waver about things. They   don’t know what they believe, they don’t know  what is right, they can’t make decisions. They   vacillate between doubt and faith. They are the  spiritually unstable. They’re not single-minded;   they’re not fixed on righteous truth. They’re not  focused on the character of God to the degree that   they understand Him, that they understand His  revelation, and thus they have a single mind.

But it isn’t even really new to the New Testament.  Although James concerned himself with it and Peter   did and Paul did and surely John and Jude  as well – Jude, who said that God alone   is able to make you stable and keep you from  falling – although they all talked about it,   certainly they’re not alone. You can go all  the way back into the Old Testament and find   this concern with instability. In fact, you can go  all the way back to the first book of the Bible,   and let me remind you of a very wonderful chapter  in terms of biblical history, the 49th of Genesis.   For in that chapter, Jacob gathers together his  sons and grants to them the legacy, and he begins,   you remember, in that 49th chapter with  his oldest son, whose name was Reuben,   and I want you to listen  to what he says to Reuben. “Reuben, you are my first born, my might and  the beginning of my strength, preeminent in   dignity and preeminent in power.” Boy, what  a statement. Reuben, you are my first born,   primogenitor, the right to the inheritance. “You  are my might, the beginning of my strength, you   are preeminent in dignity, you are preeminent in  power.” What privilege, huh? What opportunity. And  

then he said this: “Unstable as water, you shall  not have the preeminence.” That’s sad, isn’t it?   What disqualified Reuben? His spiritual what?  Instability. He’s not alone, as I said. It’s not   a new problem; it’s a very old problem. Reuben  had unequaled privilege, unequaled potential,   unequaled opportunity, and he forfeited all  of it because he was as unstable as water.   Specifically, what he did was commit fornication  in his father’s bed, in his father’s house,   with his father’s concubine – Genesis 35:22. He  was a fornicator, a demonstration of spiritual   instability, and he was disqualified, and his  father said, “You shall not have preeminence.” Spiritual instability is a disqualifier for many  things. Spiritual instability is a disappointment   to everyone. Nobody likes that. Nobody wants to be  unstable, nobody wants to fall to false doctrine,   not a true Christian. We don’t want to fall under  trials and literally get crushed and so depressed  

that our depression, of course, is unrealistic. We  don’t want to fall to temptation. I think if you   catch us in our moments of spiritual saneness, we  will affirm that we want to be spiritual stable. But the question is: How? How? Boy, that  is a big issue, isn’t it? In a sense,   you can equate spiritual stability with godliness,  Christlikeness, holiness, maturity. But it is   nonetheless very basic to Christian living,  and the heartbreak, really, in the heart of   God as He views the church today must be over this  tremendous demonstrable instability. We vacillate   all over the place, theologically, in the midst  of trials, in temptation, from leaders on down.   So how can we be stable? How can we stand  firm? How can we get over the ups and downs  

to an even keel? Well, that’s what we’re  going to learn in the next few weeks. Would you notice verse 1? And all we’ll do this  morning is look at it as the introduction. Would   you notice the phrase in verse 1, “Stand  firm in the Lord.” You might circle that.   That is the dominating verb and theme in this  entire nine verses. Stand firm in the Lord,   spiritual stability. He knew what the Philippians  were undergoing. Back in chapter 1, he had said   to them in verse 28, “In no way be alarmed by your  opponents.” They were being persecuted. Verse 29,   he says, “It’s been granted to you for Christ’s  sake not only to believe in Him but also to   suffer for His sake.” They were suffering. In  fact, it was severe enough that in verse 30,   he says they were experiencing the same  conflict they had seen in him. So they   were suffering very severe persecution, so they  were vulnerable to instability at that point.

Chapter 2 seems to indicate to me that they were  not all of the same mind. Chapter 2 verse 2,   he commands them, “Be of the same mind.”  Back in chapter 1 verse 27, he says to them,   “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the  gospel of Christ, standing firm in one spirit with   one mind.” It’s obvious that there was some real  disagreement in that church – and dissension. So   they were falling not only under persecution but  under temptation. They were receiving, as it were,   the onslaught. Verse 14 of chapter 2 indicates  that there was some grumbling and some disputing   going on as they tried to survive in what verse  15 calls a crooked and perverse generation. They   were having a tough time holding forth the word  of life with clarity in the midst of a hostile,   perverse, and crooked generation. Everything  wasn’t going the way they thought it ought to go,   and there was some grumbling and disputing  going on. They needed to sort of recharge their   joy batteries, according to chapter 2 verse  18, and start rejoicing instead of fretting.

Chapter 3 verse 18 tells us that they were  encountering the enemies of the cross. We   learned that they were encountering  Judaizers who were called – in verse   2 – dogs and evil workers and the false  mutilation. And they were encountering   libertines who were coming in in verse  19 and whose God was their appetite,   whose glory was in their shame, and who set  their minds on earthly things, so there were   some attacking the cross. The Judaizers saying  to be saved you have to add works to the cross   and the libertines saying after you’re saved  you don’t have to add works to the cross,   and so these enemies of the cross were attacking.  They were getting it from a lot of sides. You get into chapter 4 and you’ve got the debate  with the two women, the problem there. You get   into verse 6 and it’s obvious that some of them  were worrying and anxious. So they were falling   victim to personal temptation, to corporate  attacks, to persecution, and Paul commands them   to stand firm in the Lord. As I said, it isn’t  the first time he said that. Chapter 1 verse 27:   “Standing firm in one spirit.” This is the  second time he calls them to stand firm.

Now, the Greek verb here is stkete. It’s an  imperative command, and it is a military word   which means to stand your ground, stand your  post in the midst of battle. That’s what it   means. It means to hold your position while under  attack. It means what Paul said in Ephesians 6:   In the middle of battle, you’ve got  your armor on, and having done all,   to stand. Stand against the wiles of  the devil. Stand firmly no matter what   comes. You don’t crumble under persecution and  compromise. You don’t crumble under testing and   complain. You don’t crumble under temptation  and sin. You stand firm, spiritually stable. You can understand how any pastor would want that,  can’t you? May I remind you again that this is a   command? And may I remind you that we have somehow  softened our view of God so that commands don’t   seem like commands anymore? This is a command  from the living God through His Holy Spirit by   means of the apostle Paul. God says, “I want you  to stand firm.” This is a command. It grieves my   heart that we don’t take commands seriously.  I guess it grieves my heart that we don’t take  

God seriously. I was listening to a tape of  A. W. Tozer preaching at a Bible conference a   couple of decades past. In his tape, he said,  “I’ve been assessing the church for a long   time,” and he said, “My conclusion is basically  that the church is politely bored with God.”   It’s a fairly good assessment of the  church today – politely bored with God. He went on to say, “You expect me to entertain  you. You expect me to do something that will   attract your attention and titillate your emotions  because, frankly, if all I do is talk about God,   you’ll be bored.” Well, if one is bored with  God, that is a blasphemous attitude and probably   leads to the kind of apathy that would make a  command of God something more like a suggestion.   Can we somehow re-grip the reality that our  sovereign God is commanding us in the imperative   of verse 1 to stand firm? And in the command is  the inherent capability to obey the command which,   of course, is supplied by God’s Spirit,  who is able to make us stand. This is   a command. And all I want to do this morning  is plant that command in your mind. It comes   from God. He demands it. It comes from our  holy, almighty, sovereign, glorious God.

Now, let me give you a little bit  of the context. Let’s go to verse 1,   and you’ll see a couple of things here as we  just introduce this basic principle of spiritual   stability. Notice the first word is “therefore,”  which always relates back to what has been said.   It assumes that what is now to be said is based  or built upon what has just been said. Because   of this, therefore this. Prior fact leads  to this, and what in fact is that? Well,   we need only go back into the third chapter,  and if we were to summarize the third chapter,   we could summarize it this way – you remember  it well. We are pursuing Christlikeness, which   is both the goal and the prize of our Christian  life, and we are waiting for that upward call of   God in Christ Jesus. We are waiting for that day  when we, as heavenly citizens, meet the Lord Jesus   Christ and then – verse 21 – and are transformed  into conformity with the body of His glory.

In other words, we are pursuing Christlikeness,  we are citizens of heaven, we are waiting for   the Savior who will make us like Himself.  Since, then, we are heavenly citizens and   since the goal of our life and the prize of our  life is Christlikeness, therefore, stand firm. Did Christ stand firm? Did He ever waver? No, no.  Did He ever compromise? No. Did He ever sin? No.   He who knew no sin, says the Bible. He was without  sin, the perfect high priest. Jesus Christ, then,   is the model, and He stood firm against it  all and never violated God. Persecuted? Yes.   Did He fall? No. Did He compromise? No. Tempted?  Yes. Did He fall? No. Did He sin? No. Put through   all kinds of trials of life, did He crumble under  those trials, collapse, lose His confidence in   God and wander around looking for a human fix?  No. He stood firm, and since He is the prize and   the goal of our life and since we are citizens  of heaven and since someday we will be like Him  

and that is our present desire, we therefore  must do as He did: stand firm. Stand firm. The second thing you notice here is not  only the connection with the third chapter,   but the second thing you notice in  verse 1 is the pastoral spirit of Paul.   This is a strong command, and what he is going  to say is kind of a staccato exhortation because   he gives them short, direct commands related  to this single command. But in the middle of   this rather militaristic kind of terminology  and this very direct confrontive approach,   would you please notice the graciousness and  the loving spirit that this man has toward   these people? Look again at verse 1: “My beloved  brethren, whom I long for, my joy and crown,” and   then he concludes, “my beloved.” It almost  gets gushy. But it isn’t; it is real. It is   not contrived, it is not manipulative, it is not  dishonest, it is not flattery. It is his heart.

Look at it. “My beloved brethren.” “My beloved  brethren.” And he uses the strong word for love,   the rich and deep word for love. He does  love them in a very special and unique way,   and back in chapter 1 we noted that. He’s so  thankful for them. There’s something about them   that elicits deep affection out of his heart.  In chapter 1 verse 8, he says that. In fact,   in chapter 1 verse 23 to 25 he says,  “Frankly, I’d rather go to heaven,   but you need me so much I’ll stay.” That is  a major concession of love. He deeply loves   them. He acknowledges that love even in chapter 2  and how he is concerned about them. In chapter 4,   he expresses the tremendous bond that he feels  because in verse 15 he says, “You’re the ones who   helped me. No one else did.” He does love them.  He loves them deeply, and there’s a bond there.

Now, listen to me. There’s a bond of love that  does not preclude such a command. There’s a bond   of love that invites that command, right?  Have we not said that to our children on   numerous occasions? “I’m telling you this  because I love you, because I care about   you.” And then he adds in verse 1, “Whom I long  for” or “whom I desire,” and the word expresses   that he felt the deep pain of separation from  those he loved. Paul was a paragon, obviously,   of intellectual capability. He was a master of  systems. He was a logician without equal. He was   a supreme theologian. But he was also a man of  deep passion and had a capacity to love people,   and the package was the best. Here you see the  passion of his heart, “I long for you.” He was   a man who cherished relationships. Some  people get along without them – not him.   He deeply felt the pain of separation.  They were his love. They were his love.

Then he says, “Not only are you my love,” –  verse 1 – “you’re my joy.” And I guess that   kind of goes together. What do you mean, “You’re  my joy?” “Well, you give me joy. The joy of my   heart is over you.” He didn’t get his joy out of  his circumstances. That would be hard to do since   he was, at this particular point, chained to a  Roman soldier as a Roman prisoner in a private   house in Rome, writing this epistle. He didn’t get  his personal joy out of circumstances. That would   have been very difficult to do, not only because  of the physical but even because of the things   going on around him, such as people criticizing  him mercilessly, of which he speaks in chapter 1,   who were supposing to add affliction to his bonds.  No, he had very difficult circumstances. He never   gave much thought to them, but he found his  joy in people, and he found his joy in the   people that loved him and that he loved. He  found his joy in his flock, “You’re my joy.” He said the same thing to the Thessalonians  when he wrote 1 Thessalonians. In 2:19,   he says, “Who is our hope or joy or crown of  rejoicing? Is it not even you?” Then in verse 20:   “For you are our glory and joy.” And he relates  it to the second coming. “You’re my joy now,   and you’ll be my supreme joy when I  see you in the presence of our Christ.   My joy is seeing your salvation. My joy is seeing  your growth and that’s why I’m saying this to  

you. I’m not browbeating you; I’m affectionately  exhorting you.” Then he says, “You’re my crown.”   That is a wonderful statement. Not diadma, diadem,  not a kingly crown; stephanos, a laurel wreath. Basically, in that culture two people received  a laurel wreath. One was the athlete who won   an event and they gave him a laurel wreath to  wear. That was the corruptible crown Paul said   the runner gets in 1 Corinthians 9. But there was  another person who got a laurel wreath and that   would be a man who was honored by his peers. A  great feast or banquet would be held, and this man   would be brought as the guest of honor, and as the  guest of honor, he would receive a laurel wreath. And what does Paul mean when he says to the  Philippians and to the Thessalonians, “You   are my crown”? He means “you are my reward.” The  wreath was a trophy. The trophy, in a sense, said   this man has lived a fruitful life. The trophy in  a track meet says this man has run a great race.   Paul says, “You’re my trophy. You’re the proof of  my effective service. You’re my crown. You’re the   reward that says this has been an effective  life.” Boy, that’s rich commendation. What   affirmation Paul gives to these dear people.  It’s just what he said to the Corinthians: “You  

are the seal of my apostleship,” 1 Corinthians  9:2. “You’re the validation of my life. You’re   my love. You’re my joy. You’re the proof of  my ministry.” And then he closes by saying   “my beloved” again. That’s rich affirmation. He  says, “I love you, I love you so much I long to be   with you. I long to be with you because you’re  the source of my joy and you are my reward.” Every pastor can say that if his heart is right.  I can say that I love you as God’s people given to   me, for the love you have given to me and the love  we share through these years, and I long for you,   and absence from you for any prolonged period  of time causes my heart to yearn to be with you.   There is the sense in which, too, you  are my joy for my joy is found not in   my circumstances but in the fruit of ministry,  and that becomes the laurel wreath. Sometimes   people send me a plaque about something.  Sometimes people honor me in some way. But   the truth is that the validation,  the affirmation of any man’s life,  

are those people that God has used him to touch.  You are my crown. I understand what he’s saying. So bathed in this deep and emotional  love is this tremendous command: Rising,   stand firm in the Lord. As sensitive, as warm, as  soft, as gentle as the terminology is around it,   it is the opposite. It is firm, it is strong,  it is resolute. I want your spiritual stability. The question comes – how? And that draws us to a  little word in verse 1, the only word I haven’t   mentioned: “so.” This is why I love to exegete the  Scripture, taking every word. You just can’t miss   any of it. This is houts in the Greek. It means  “thus” or “in this way.” That unlocks everything.   Because you are my beloved, I want you to stand  firm in the Lord in this way. That’s what “so”   means, “like this,” and then he goes on to explain  how. And verses 2 through 9 are extremely basic,   practical principles for spiritual stability. And,  beloved, Paul has, under the genius of the Holy  

Spirit, collected here the solution to the entire  spiritual struggle. It’s all pulled together. You want to be a spiritually strong Christian  and stable? You have to learn the principles   that are here. I believe it’s all in the  Word of God. It is all in the Word of God.   For every difficulty and every stress, it’s  all here. In fact, in sort of a capsule form,   it’s all here in these nine verses because I  am convinced that the resolution to everything   in this matter of spiritual stability goes  right back to how you think about God. Did   you get that? To how you think about God,  and everything Paul says ties in and relates   to that. So over the next couple of weeks, we  are going to learn about spiritual stability,   and we’re going to work our way through the  principles that Paul gives so that we might   be spiritually stable. This is the pastoral  heart. This is what must be done in the church.

I want to say, as a footnote, I believe our  church is more stable than most, and I thank   God for that, but we’re not all that we ought to  be. Let’s not be under any illusion about that.   None of us is, and this must be the objective  of our ministry. You remember early in the book   of Acts in chapter 11 and verse 23, it says in  verse 22: “And the news about them reached the   ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent  Barnabas off to Antioch. Then when he had come   and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and  began to encourage them all with resolute heart   to remain true to the Lord.” That’s what every  pastor does. You encourage your people with a   resolute heart to remain true to the Lord, that’s  spiritual stability, that’s what Barnabas did. Wasn’t just Barnabas. Peter had that as a  goal. In 2 Peter 3:17 he says, “You therefore,   beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on  your guard lest being carried away by the   error of unprincipled men you fall from your  own steadfastness.” Peter says, “Don’t fall;   stay firm.” You come into the 14th chapter of  Acts. Verse 22, Paul is strengthening the souls   of the disciples, encouraged them to continue  in the faith, and he said to them, “Through many  

tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”  So he strengthened them, he encouraged them,   told them to expect tribulation. That’s just  ministerial function. Paul wrote to the Galatians,   he says, “Look, for freedom, Christ has set us  free” – chapter 5 verse 1 – “don’t you fall back,   but stand firm.” Don’t fall back into Judaistic  legalism. In Colossians 4, Epaphras is praying   that you would stand firm, complete in the Will  of God. That’s a cry throughout the New Testament. I was thinking, too, of 1 Thessalonians, isn’t  it? In chapter 3 verse 8? He says, “For now we   really live if you stand firm in the Lord.” Now,  there’s a pastor’s heart. You want to make my   life enjoyable? Stand fast in the Lord; don’t  waver, don’t fall. Second Thessalonians 2:15,   “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the  traditions which you were taught.” Don’t waver   from the truth, that’s the command. I suppose the  most familiar expression comes in these words,   “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye  steadfast” – what’s the next word? – “unmovable,  

always abounding in the work of the Lord,”  1 Corinthians 15:58. It was Peter’s concern,   the concern of Paul, the concern of James, the  concern of Jesus, the concern of Jude and John,   the concern of the Holy Spirit and of God Himself  that we have spiritual stability. The question,   obviously, has to be answered – how? And  we are going to endeavor to go deeply into   the things of this chapter that can  teach us how. That’s for next time. Lord, we have been blessed in this fellowship  this morning and we are thankful. The beauty   of the songs we sung and the encouragement to  our hearts of the prayers and the Scripture,   and now the refreshment of the precious  Word has enriched us. We thank You. And now,   Lord, we would come to a point of  commitment. Work in our hearts.

While your heads are bowed, just in a moment of  prayer, may I ask you to pray to God yourself?   And say, “Lord, I want to be spiritually  stable, and in these days and weeks to come,   help me to learn the principles of stability and  apply them. Prepare my heart.” Will you pray that   prayer? “Lord, I want to be spiritually stable.  Help me learn these principles and apply them.” Father, that is our prayer, that this church  might stand firm against all that comes,   not for our sakes but that Your  name might be glorified. Amen. You've been listening to John MacArthur,  Bible teacher with Grace to You. For free   access to all of John's lessons and a listing  of Study Bibles and books available for sale,   visit Grace to You's website at gty.org.  John MacArthur and Grace to You reserve   all copyright protection under applicable  law. Our copyright policy is available at   gty.org and it includes instructions for and  limitations on duplicating this digital file.