In the sermon titled 'The Extent of Gospel Grace' by Paul Carrington, the speaker explores the theme of gospel grace and its limitless reach, using Philippians 4:19-23 as a focal point. The sermon highlights the current societal climate of fear, despair, and vulnerability, comparing it to historical periods of crisis like the cholera epidemic during Charles Spurgeon's time. The speaker emphasizes the importance of actively sharing the gospel, especially in times of darkness, and references Paul's letter to the Philippians, written from prison in Rome, under Nero's rule. The sermon outlines three main points: the unstoppable nature of the gospel, the weapons used in its advancement (Word of God, intercessory prayer, the Spirit of God, and a holy life), and the implications for believers today. The speaker encourages listeners to renew their confidence in the gospel's power and urges them to actively share its message, emphasizing that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace.

Well, good afternoon. It's a blessing and honor to be with you here again. Two weekends in a row. It's almost unbelievable for us, but it's such a blessing and we're so grateful to be here. Today we're going to just spend some time in the last chapter of the book of Philippians.

So Philippians chapter four and we're just going to be looking at one verse here this afternoon and if you recall last week my hope my hope last week was really to communicate just a little bit of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ by looking at 2 Corinthians chapter four. Not only that we would not lose heart, but also that we would hopefully be recaptured with the magnitude of what God has accomplished for us in his son. And the phrase that Paul uses to really encapsulate that is he says that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Such a beautiful picture of what God has done for us. Well this week, I wanna talk to us about the extent of gospel grace.

In a theoretical sense, last week we saw the beauty, the power of how far the gospel can reach and what it can do in our individual lives. Now in a practical sense I want to look at just one verse in Philippians chapter 4 to expound a little bit on what can the gospel do when it's let loose? What are its bounds? What are its limits? Is there any limits?

Are there any bounds when it comes to to God's Word? And you know, I pray as I'm going through these few things. I really really ask you to please have in mind your co-workers to have in mind your neighbors to have in mind strangers families people that are all around you and see if some of what I'm saying here hopefully registers you know I've been here we've been here for about a week and in the interactions I've had and just walking around and meeting people, seeing different people, you get this overriding sense of people captured and really focused on with fear. You know, there's a lot of despair, vulnerability, even bankruptcy, and people are, I found, to be very, very open even in explaining some of the things that they're going through. Hopelessness seems to be carrying the day.

And when Charles Spurgeon was in the metropolitan tabernacle sometime, I think it was maybe in the 1850s or 60s. There was a widespread cholera epidemic that took over and people were in a similar type of state of hopelessness, despair, people that were one-time scoffers now had an ear to hear. And Charles Spurgeon, he said this, he said during this kind of extended period of unease or dis-ease, he said this, now is the time for all of you who love souls, speaking to his church members. And I would say the same thing to you today. We're living in a time right now that is perfect for those of you who love souls.

Because guess what? God is still building his church, isn't he, in the midst of darkness. And oftentimes, not only is he building his church, but God orchestrates these calamities. He orchestrates conflict for the furtherance of the gospel message. Men and women all around us are loaded down.

You can almost see people loaded down with this almost rucksack of sin and disappointment, rejection, anxiety. That's what I've seen in the short time that I've been here. People that are terribly injured with self-inflicted wounds and what do you have and what do I have? We have the balm of Gilead and I want to talk to us a little bit about that So just for context we're gonna look at one verse as I said, but if you open up to Philippians 4 now, we're gonna read Philippians 4 verse 19 down to 23 here. And I'm just gonna start right here.

It says this in verse 19. And my God shall supply all your needs according to the riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever, amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me, greet you.

All the saints, greet you. But especially those who are of Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Well, what we're gonna do is we're gonna be looking at that second to last verse.

It's this intensely captivating verse. If you pay attention to it, all the saints greet you. But especially those who are of Caesar's household. I would challenge you, anyone here, to find a single line anywhere that so simply demonstrates the extent of the glory of the gospel, how far it can reach, what the Lord means when he says uttermost all the way through Scripture. So what do I mean?

Well that's what I want to spend time hopefully unraveling for us here today. There's three things that I I really want to spend time on and one is talking to you about the unstoppable nature and extent of the gospel. The second thing is the nature of the weapons that are used in the advancement of God's kingdom And then if this single statement is true verse 22 if this is true Then what are the implications for you and for me as believers? So those are the three things I want to focus us on. This letter though, just by way of background, it's a fascinating letter.

Paul was writing this letter, it seems like, from the seat of the empire in Rome, and he was writing it to the saints that were in Philippi, of course. But he's not just visiting Rome, is he? He's there as a guest of Caesar in prison. He's actually under house arrest. This is one of four prison epistles like Ephesians and Colossians and Philemon.

And it seems like he was allowed to receive visitors so it wasn't necessarily in like the Mamertine prison but under some sort of house arrest. So you had men like Epaphroditus who were there and you could see in verse 21 he says the brethren who are with me greet you. So there was some sort of ability to kind of men and men to come and go as they as the guard saw fit. Well, that's the letter and it's author but the design of this letter it's one of the warmest letters despite the apostle Paul's surroundings being in prison. Here he is in chains, but independent of circumstance he mentions the word joy or rejoice a total of 16 times.

It's the theme of this epistle. And so there he is in a seemingly vulnerable, weakened state under lock and key, but he's so assured of the one that he believes in that he makes this bold declaration in chapter two. He says that in the future, every knee, every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. A bold statement for a man who's in shackles in house arrest there in Rome, knowing that the one that he's put his confidence in is coming. There's also an emphasis on holiness.

You remember Philippi, if you look back at Acts 16, it was where Paul was once whipped and then he was imprisoned for the preaching of the gospel because of its effect on paganism. You remember that? But what does he say here to the Philippians with his emphasis on holiness? He says in chapter two that they would become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast the word of truth. Is it possible that in dark pagan Philippi that these men and women would be able to do such a thing?

Well the reality is that the Philippians are probably living in similar circumstances, not too far from what we're in. Here's the reality, isn't it? For you and for me. Now, forget all the theory. How do you actually see the power of the gospel in your actual lives as a church body, as individuals, as families?

That's really the question and oftentimes what happens is that when you look around you and you see the vastness of the devil's empire, You see millions of people lying prostrate, as it were, at Satan's feet. And then on the other hand, you see kind of the little spot of ground that the true believers, the Church of Christ, occupies. It can cause a little bit of disillusionment. And then when you go out and you try to spread the gospel, what happens sometimes is you see such little progress, seemingly at least, from the gospel effort. People kind of indifferent a lot of times.

What happens over time is that you can begin to kind of temper your expectation to maybe lower your views a little bit. It's, yeah, the gospel's, it's awesome. We can sing about it and do all, you know, talk to each other about it. But oftentimes, we kind of are led to an almost close your mouth approach and we settle into a kind of live and let live way of life. Maybe even more so in a time like the times that we're living in where chaos seems to be the rule of the day.

Or oftentimes you can live on the fumes of a bygone era. Things that happened in the past become the thing that most captivates you. Over time, I think what's happening is your practical confidence in the gospel can actually be eroded. Not for what he's done for you, but is God still able in the midst of a generation like the one we're living in to do mighty acts and wonders through the preached word? Well that's what I hope to just Refresh us again, not really tell you anything new, but refresh us a little bit in terms of what is the extent of gospel grace.

And hopefully my hope is that you wouldn't just leave agreeing with me, but maybe even be prevailed upon by the Spirit of God to have our gaze lifted to him and maybe even renewed in our desire to see men and women around us come to a knowledge of the truth. So I want to read that verse, all the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household. And I want to talk to you as I said that first point, what is the unstoppable nature of the gospel? And look at this verse. The Apostle Paul is not just having it here incidentally, but it's almost like an epistle within an epistle.

We saw who wrote the letter, didn't we? And we saw where he wrote it from, he's in Rome, and he's under house arrest and all of that. We remember why he's in chains, of course too, right? He's in chains for preaching the gospel. Now the question is, by whose command is he under house arrest?

Well it's under the command or by the command of Caesar that he is under this lock and key. But it's not just any Caesar. It's the notorious decadent Nero. And here's a man who launched a sustained campaign to eradicate the Roman Empire of Christianity, to extinguish the light of Christianity. He considered himself to be God on earth and so he saw Christianity is in direct opposition to him because Christians were not saying let's add Jesus to the pantheon but that he is the king of kings, he is the lord of lords.

There is no other god. And that was a big, big problem. In fact, two years later, this letter is written maybe in about 62 AD, two years later, historians say that Nero Set fire to Rome because he wanted to build another palace and what did he do? He scapegoated the Christians and led to massive persecution Unspeakable horrors that were unleashed because of this man's evil It's amazing to just think about the fact that the gospel had reached all the way from Palestine, from Judea to Rome, and that there were actual churches now in Rome. That's astounding to think about that.

In less than a generation, this was the situation. But here's something to consider, that it not only had reached Rome but it had reached into the palace and not just the palace it says but Caesar's household and not just Caesar's household, but Nero Caesar's household. The place that's most off-limits. You could call it the the citadel of midnight spiritual darkness. That's what Nero's household is.

And the household is not just your family, like how we would think of household today, my wife and my children. Unfortunately, for Nero's household, for his immediate family, he actually had ended up murdering his own mother. He murdered his younger brother. He then turned around and murdered his first wife. And then he murdered his second pregnant wife.

I mean, this man was not a nice man. And to be a Christian in this environment, in his household, was probably the most risky thing you could ever even imagine. But it says here in chapter one of Philippians, speaking of some of the praetorian guard and maybe even other members of his household, The household might have included cooks and who knows what, all sorts of different people that were serving in Nero's household. He says in chapter one, while he's in chains, he says, but I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. So that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ.

It's astounding. And so what happens is that by the unstoppable nature of the gospel. Men and women who had access to Caesar's throne now had access to a far higher throne. Men and women that were there in the decaying court of Rome now had access to the eternal heavenly court. It's a beautiful thing that one time enemies were now made emissaries by the grace of God.

I just want you, could you even imagine what this means that the gospel had reached all that way, not just to Rome, not just into Caesar's household, not just into Nero Caesar's household, but here are people now born again, living for God in the darkest place where the midnight spiritual darkness has now given way in a significant way to the light. That's what we see in 2 Corinthians chapter four, what we looked at last week. He says, for it is God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And I just say behold your God. When you look at something like this, here's a man in prison, in shackles, but there's no obstacle to our God.

There's no limitation. We so often limit God. We look at what's possible by these feeble hands. You look at what's possible with your neighbors and coworkers and people with maybe your eloquence and what you can accomplish. But look what God can do when the gospel comes forth from a man.

We're going to talk about the weapons that the Apostle Paul used, but this is the triumph of grace in the darkest of places. And so, saints, I just wanna say that if there's any diminishment of your view, not what you say, not what you say, not what we sing, but I'm talking about a diminishment of your view, Oh, my prayer is that we would just again be acquainted with what God has done for us, this treasure in earthen vessels. It's astounding what God has actually done for us. Well, we saw the unstoppable nature and extent of gospel grace. I wanna talk to us about those weapons, the nature of the weapons used.

And what's amazing to me and what I really admire is that the apostle Paul, he always made a point not to rely at all on Saul's armor. He shunned flowery oratory and rhetoric. He didn't find that all impressive. In fact, he saw that as detracting many times from the simplicity of the message. And we read last week how Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame.

Not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. So what were the weapons that the Apostle Paul used for this gospel advance? On the one hand, I'm gonna tell you four things that I believe are gonna be hopefully very helpful. Waging war with one of these things missing though, I think is fruitless. One of them missing is fruitless.

But on the other hand, these four things are all you need. All you need and they're available for us. And so the first one very very simply is the Word of God actually spoken, spoken from a man to a man, from a woman to a woman. The opening of your mouth with what God has done for you in Christ or the quoting of Scripture or going through. It's not complicated.

That was his primary, one of his primary weapons, what he called the sword of the Spirit. But not only that, the Word of God combined with intercessory prayer calling out to the Lord of the harvest on behalf of those without life, without hope in the world. This is, if you look at the book of Acts, you look at all of Paul's epistles, and you begin to add up all the verses that actually include and reference intercession, you would be amazed, it's a mountain of verses where Paul is constantly interceding or calling on others to intercede. He believed in intercessory prayer. Time spent in intercession, it's never wasted.

It may seem like not a lot is happening, but it's time that is invested in quality ministry that God blesses. And so you have the word of God, intercessory prayer, the third one, it almost sounds silly to even put it in here, but the spirit of God, working the words, answering the prayers, and working these things into the hearts of men to bring them to life. He alone, he alone can regenerate. You see how foolish it would be to rely on preaching just the Word of God without relying on the Spirit who actually has to regenerate a dead man, like Adam lying there, and it says that God breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul. That's exactly what the spirit has to do, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit says the Lord of hosts.

And the fourth thing I would just put forward to you and suggest, one that is often overlooked especially in our day, is the power of a holy life. Witness not only in word, but indeed the way that you live and the way that we carry ourselves, a demonstration that this is actually powerful enough to change people and people are always observing. We see that where we live right now. People are constantly observing you, watching you. Is there really a correspondence between what you say and sing and what you actually do and how you lead your life?

You can almost sometimes forget that one but that one is so so essential. Well we've seen the unstoppable nature and extent of the gospel. We've talked a little bit about the weapons, the nature of the weapons used and I asked at the beginning if this single statement is true, this verse, all the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household, then what are the implications for us as believers? And I again, I just want to be as practical, as real, as possible. I want you to just think a moment here.

You're living in an unbelievable time. Time maybe like unlike any other, but maybe many of us or maybe all of us can even remember. Consider the state of things around you. Again, however manufactured and fabricated they are, the point I'm making is that men and women have been introduced to fear and frailty and uncertainty like no other time. And it's Almost like a similar season, as I said in the beginning, to the times of Spurgeon, and what was Spurgeon's response?

It was to encourage the saints now more than ever to bring the gospel to bear, to those who are in this current state. And He was encouraging them to active exertion in the cause of Christ, but himself leading the way. He would go house to house. He would go and speak the gospel in the streets that men might be saved. It was a beautiful, beautiful example.

And I wanna just help us a little bit here. Hopefully this will be appropriate. I want to enlist the help of a master demon to help us understand this issue of what is our responsibility? How can we be thinking? This is actually Randy Alcorn.

He's written a little book as it were on Satan's devices. It sounds similar to the screw tape letters, but what's happened is that this master demon is discipling a younger demon or a more novice demon. And unfortunately for this novice demon, this young man named Fletcher has slipped through his grasp and actually become a believer in Jesus Christ. And now, Fletcher's considering, he's saying, I, who before time was dead in my sins, am now in Christ. And now he's made a list of all the people he wants to tell about the gospel.

Well now, Lord Foulgren comes in with this advice in his epistle to his disciple. So see if you can follow this. He says this, and I'll just read it. He says, since it's what the enemy, that's Christ, uses to change vermin destinations from hell to heaven, obviously you must keep Fletcher from evangelism. But don't bother trying to convince him it's bad to evangelize.

Let him think it's good, admirable, just as long as he doesn't actually do it. The best strategy is to keep him from grasping the stakes so he has no sense of urgency. Persuade your maggot feeder. He must be a low-key individual, careful not to bowl over unbelievers with his newfound faith, lest they see him as a fanatic and get turned off. By all means, don't let it occur to him to quietly tell them what the enemy has done for him.

Let him imagine that this should be done gradually, only when they ask, or only after a long, as in endless, period of being a good example, in quotes. Let Fletcher be a good example until he's blue in the face, as long as he doesn't actually explain the forbidden message. Look around and around you and you'll see innumerable Christians who've been good neighbors and model coworkers for decades, but they've never actually told those around them what it means to be a Christian. Many of them imagine now that the message has somehow magically gotten across, but of course it hasn't, Excellent. Keep him ignorant of church history and the forbidden squadrons across the globe.

He's talking about missionaries. The enemy may try to point out to him, that's Christ, that while his brethren risk imprisonment and death, Fletcher is unwilling to hazard a raised eyebrow or a disapproving glance. Delay, procrastinate, postpone. That is our evangelism strategy. Now listen, if we do our job, people will die of thirst a few feet away from water bearers who don't want to impose their water on others.

I'll share the truth when the time is right, your vermin Fletcher said. Your job is simple. Make sure the time is never right. Populating hell, one image bearer at a time, yours truly, Lord Foulgren. Consider that.

This single statement is true, that God can save to the uttermost, that even those in the darkest midnight spiritual blackness of Nero's household can be reached and changed and be brought to new life in Christ. Do you have a neighbor, a friend, co-worker, someone that's beyond the reach of the gospel? My hope is that there was ever, if there was ever, and I'm talking about now, I'm talking about June 2020, if there was ever a time for active exertion in the cause of Christ I would say today is the day there's great hope and so I would just encourage us to to first look at at Christ look at God with new eyes be captivated again by the the beauty of the gospel and And just find yourself as it were shaking your head at the goodness, the grace, the wonder, the power that's all in Christ. Take that time, maybe even by yourself, to do that, but don't just stop there. Where we oftentimes need help, myself included, is then shifting our gaze, as it were, to the masses all around us and to our neighbors, the people close to you, your co-workers, whatever it is, family members, friends.

And I have a confession. I have often, often found myself as a Christian walking down the street or engaged with people and you know what? That guy, he's too far gone. Have you ever said that to yourself? I have.

That's just the reality. That guy's ripe. He seems like he's more ready, but now that other guy, not so much. He's savable, but boy, He's kind of unsavable. But here's the reality, is that heaven is populated by the unsavable.

Heaven is populated with the too far gone. That's why when the disciples said to Jesus, Who then can be saved? What did Jesus turn around and say? With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. And so I just, that's really my hope is that you would just be reminded again, that I would be reminded again.

The extent of gospel grace is unbounded. There's no place that God can't save to the uttermost. But I would just say there has to be this translation from acknowledgement in theory and then the actual looking around us in a time like we're living in now and rather than more enclosed and battening down the hatches because the days are evil like what the Apostle Paul recommended to the Philippians that in the midst of a dark and spiritually perverse generation that we would shine as lights in the world. I've been encouraged, by the way, by talking to many of you and just listening to you as some of the things the Lord has been doing in terms of this very thing of reaching out to people and neighbors and so on. I've been so thankful just to hear of that.

I would just say continue, continue with zeal and belief. And for those of us maybe that have maybe lost a little bit of this luster, I would just say regain it. Meditate on the things of the Lord and consider the stakes. Don't be like what we just read there of Lord Falgren. Keep them as far as you can from the stakes.

Heaven and hell, eternal damnation or eternal glory. I pray that we would all be moved upon to consider the glory of Christ. Just covered in this one little verse, so pray with me and let's just go before the Lord. Father we give you thanks and praise oh Lord. We thank you for these little gems that are tucked into the scriptures Lord that all the saints greet you especially those who are of Caesar's household Lord how how powerful how unbounded your word is we pray that you would capture us again with a sense of of this very thing that we would be a people, much like those in the time of Spurgeon that would be engaged in active exertion in the cause of Christ and the earth.

Help us, oh Lord, we pray, and ennoble us, strengthen us, and help us. Oh Lord, how we need you for every moment. We can't stand. We have no strength in ourselves but we pray, oh that you would be pleased Lord to help us and use us and bless us. We thank you for your goodness and grace toward us, oh Lord.

May your grace in us overflow its banks and be such a blessing to the perishing around us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.