Strength For Gospel-Gripped Soldiers

the book of Philippians only has four little chapters,

and today we finish chapter one, about a quarter of the book.

I have to admit, this is a favorite for me, this little book.

What a joy it's been to just to watch God do what he does,

you know, take his living, active word

and let it cut our hearts day after day, week after week.

So I'm very encouraged once again today

by seeing your faces, seeing us back here together

under God's word and the time in Sunday school

and now to study his word together.

So I'm gonna read our sermon text for today.

It's Philippians chapter one, verses 27 through 30.

And I read this believing it's God's inspired,

inerrant, infallible, clear and sufficient word.

It's God's very own word for you.

When I'm done reading, I'll say,

this is the word of the Lord.

If you believe that, you can respond.

Thanks be to God.

Philippians 1, 27.

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ,

so that whether I come and see you or am absent,

I may hear of your affairs,

that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind,

striving together for the faith of the gospel.

And not in any way terrified by your adversaries,

which is to them a proof of perdition,

but to you of salvation and that from God.

Verse 29.

For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ,

not only to believe in him,

but also to suffer for his sake,

having the same conflict which you saw in me,

and now here is in me.

The word of the Lord.

You may be seated.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Let's pray.

God, we ask that your Holy Spirit

will illumine your word to your people today.

We praise you for this active, ongoing ministry

of the Holy Spirit,

the Spirit of Christ,

the living God,

who dwells in your people,

who breathed out every word of the Bible,

and who now in a special way,

mysteriously,

illumines the meaning

in a way that builds up,

that edifies your body

for your glory and for our good.

You are so faithful, Lord.

We ask that by your grace,

you'll do this once again,

out of love for your people.

For Christ's sake we ask.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

If you'll let your imagination

travel with me to World War I,

there's a soldier in the trench,

bullets flying above his head.

He's tired.

He's hungry.

I don't know how many more days

I can go on like this,

seeing people getting picked off

to the right and to the left.

And in that trench,

he ducks down one more time,

pulls out the letter

from his family,

and just reads those words

one more time,

holds the letter back up,

puts it in his pocket,

pops up,

and he has strength

to keep on in the fight.

Not because he hates

what's in front of him,

but because he loves

who he's fighting to defend.

Well, Paul is one such warrior.

And if you caught it,

that very last verse,

verse 30,

he says,

you church now,

about 10 years later,

after Acts 16,

about 10 years later,

you church,

you're in that same conflict

which you saw in me.

When you saw me get arrested,

thrown in prison,

being persecuted

for the name of Christ,

you're in that now.

So I think this last little section

of the first chapter

is an overflow of Paul's prayers

for the church,

and he's understanding

what's really going on.

Look back in Philippians 1,

starting at verse 3.

You remember how the first verses,

from about verse 3 to verse 11,

is how he's praying.

He's been praying for them,

interceding on behalf of the church.

And just think for a moment,

what is prayer?

Prayer is when the Holy Spirit

is uniting you on earth.

Here you are.

I've left you on the earth,

but you're united spiritually

to Christ,

who's at the right hand

of God the Father Almighty.

And from there,

he's going to come

with the host of angel army

and all the saints

to usher in the eternal state,

the new heavens and the new earth.

But in prayer,

you're still in the earth,

and you're praying.

You're united to Christ.

And what is Christ doing

at the right hand of the Father

right now?

He lives to intercede

for his people.

So out of that overflow

of Paul's prayers,

his union to Christ,

praying for the church,

joining his prayers

to what Christ is praying,

he gives these exhortations.

I think that's what

these verses are.

So what did Christ

teach Paul

through prayer in heaven?

Well, he's giving him

battle language.

Verse 27,

stand fast.

That's battle language.

Keep striving together.

You'll see in a moment

how that's battle language.

He says,

do not be in any way

terrified

by your adversaries.

Why would you be terrified

unless you're in a battle

taking shots?

Verse 29,

you are suffering.

You have the same conflict

as I had

when I was with you

and as what I'm in right now.

This is similar

as to what

Christ gave

to the church

in Ephesus,

which was

Ephesians 6, 11,

put on

the whole armor

of God

that you may be able

to stand

against

the schemes

of the devil.

So here's the church

at war,

the church militant.

Beloved congregation

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I want to

give you this same strength.

I want to pass it on to you.

I think these verses

are strength

for gospel-gripped

soldiers.

These verses

are strength

for you and me

as part of the church

today as well.

I don't always do this

and it wasn't even

on purpose

until I got done.

I realized

there are five B's here.

So I looked up

really quickly

this morning,

what does vitamin B

even do in us?

And it helps your nerves.

Well, that's fitting.

He says,

don't be frightened

in any way.

It gives you energy

and it makes

your immune system

strong

so you can keep going.

So here are five

doses

of vitamin B

for the church.

Number one,

be citizens.

Be citizens.

And this is so,

so beautiful

of the gospel.

It's an exhortation

for you to do something.

What is it you have to do?

You have to be a citizen.

It's something God does

to you.

He makes you a citizen.

So number one,

live out

who you truly are

no matter who's watching.

Be a citizen.

Live out

who you truly are

no matter who's watching.

Look at verse 27.

It says,

only let your conduct

be worthy

of the gospel of Christ

so that whether

I come to see you

or am absent,

I may hear

of your affairs

that you stand fast.

Philippi,

it had belonged

to Macedon

and it had been named

after Philip II

who was the father

of Alexander the Great.

So it's got this

rich Greek history

and now it's called

Little Rome.

It had been built back up

by the Romans.

But it was a city

much like

Vanity Fair

and Pilgrim's Progress,

much like Denver.

Every distortion

known to mankind

of a good desire

that God gave

is available

and it's calling

for your attention,

your time,

your energy,

your money.

And the exhortation

is be a different

kind of citizen

within Philippi.

Be a different

kind of citizen

within Denver,

within the USA.

the Christian Standard

Bible translates

that phrase

as citizens of heaven.

That's what he's getting at.

As believers

who were called out

of the world

into Christ

but left in the world.

Be that.

That's who you truly are.

Be a gospel colony,

so to speak.

The church is a gospel colony.

And that command,

let your conduct

be worthy of.

Six words.

But in Greek

it's just one word.

I don't need to say

what it is in Greek.

You need to know

that the root

of that one word

in Greek

is polis.

Polis.

Like a city-state

in the ancient world

that belongs

to an empire

or a kingdom.

So if you belong

to a city-state,

you know the laws,

you know the manners,

the values,

the customs,

the traditions

of this city

or this kingdom

to which you belong.

And in the ancient world

to belong

and to truly be a citizen,

that was the best thing

you had going

for your life.

It really defined you.

And Paul says,

you be a gospel citizen.

You be a citizen

of heaven.

This collective mentality

of all of us together,

we are known

by what we value,

by the laws we hold to,

by our customs.

It rallies the troops

and it incites action.

It's such an ironic twist

because in Acts 16.21,

and Acts 16 is the whole chapter

about how this church

got started,

read these words,

Acts 16.21.

Paul and his company

were arrested

because,

quote,

they teach customs

that are not lawful

for us,

being Romans,

to receive or observe.

This was the opposition

that Paul

and his team

of missionaries

received.

They were disrupting

the order

of this Roman city.

And now he's using it

as an encouragement,

as strength

for the church

within the city.

I love how the King James

puts it.

So we say,

you or ye,

what's the difference

in that old English?

Well, ye is plural.

So it says,

be ye being.

That would be the word

for word translation.

Be all of you together

collectively,

being citizens.

It's in the second person,

passive.

Again,

it's an exhortation,

but it's passive.

God is the one

who makes you a citizen.

You are the one

who keeps being

what he made you.

He's reminding them

of who they are.

You all,

saints of the church

at Philippi,

with elders and deacons,

that's his audience.

That's who he's been

talking to.

Be,

being,

citizens,

whose loyalty belongs

not to Caesar,

but to Christ,

not to Rome,

but to heaven,

whose eyes are set

not on the troubles

of this world,

but on the joy

of the next.

Be,

being,

that.

That's who you are.

And he wants them

to do this

because it's who they are,

not for man's approval.

That simple statement,

whether I come to see you

or am absent.

Well, here's this little battalion,

this little congregation,

an outpost of the kingdom

of heaven.

Wouldn't it be wonderful

if they could see Paul,

you know,

one of the great commanders

under Christ,

calling them,

rallying them up,

sending them to fight.

Wouldn't that be encouraging?

Paul says,

you're doing this for Christ.

Whether I'm with you

to see it or not,

don't do it for me.

But that's who you are.

Keep being who God made you.

Here's why I think

this is God-breathed

strength for you and me

also,

for the church.

We are to live out

who we truly are,

no matter who's watching.

To be a gospel-gripped soldier

means we keep being

who God made us to be,

no matter who's watching.

What comes to mind

with an illustration for this

is there was this story,

I never got to meet them,

but there's a brother and sister

from a tribe in Africa.

And they had the opportunity

because they were of a high class,

educated class in Africa

and they came to college

in the USA.

And I was still hearing stories

about them from this old couple,

like grandparents,

that opened their home

for college students

who wanted to pray

for missionaries.

And they described these

wonderful,

beautiful people

as just conducting

themselves differently,

not even in a spiritual sense,

just how they carried themselves,

how they walked

with their shoulders back,

their heads held high,

the courtesy they showed

and how they,

you know,

served one another

and helped.

And they told me later

that they were humble about this,

but they came to find out

in getting to know them,

their father was considered

a prince of this tribe.

They were noble,

noble,

you know,

royalty.

And so they acted

like a prince and a princess,

even though they're in America,

totally different culture.

That's who they are,

that's how they were,

were born into

and that's how they wanted

to live

and conduct themselves

no matter where they were,

whether or not

their royal father and mother

were watching them.

Isn't that a beautiful picture

for us as Christians

who Christ has left

in the world?

We are royalty.

Our father is the king of kings.

We belong to him.

And he's saying,

be being who you are.

In English,

we can put it that way,

though it's different.

It's let your conduct

be worthy of the gospel.

You are gospel citizens.

Live this way.

When you're gospel gripped,

your conduct does not depend

on man's observation.

The reason we read

John 17 earlier

as part of our liturgy

is because what I hear here

are these echoes.

John 17 is Christ's

high priestly prayer,

his prayer for the church.

And when we're told

he's praying now

at the right hand of God,

the Father Almighty,

that's a little picture

into how Christ prays

for his church.

And listen to the similarity

of how Christ prays

in John 17, 9

with these first words

of our sermon text today.

Jesus said,

I do not pray for the world,

but for those

whom you have given me,

for they are yours.

There is a people

in the world

that belong to God

that are separated

for him.

All mine are yours,

and yours are mine,

and I am glorified

in them.

It's the reputation,

the name of God,

the glory of Christ

that's being revealed

through his gospel colony,

his people,

the church.

So number one,

be citizens.

Live out who you truly are

no matter who's watching.

Number two,

be one.

Be one.

From the harmony

of your shared faith,

fight aggressively

as one soldier.

Be one.

From the harmony

of your shared faith,

fight aggressively

as one soldier.

I really believe

that's the picture.

Verse 27,

he says,

you stand fast,

he says,

in one spirit,

with one mind,

striving together

for the faith

of the gospel.

We can infer here

there's a challenge

against this little

congregation in Philippi.

Potential disunity

or division

within the body.

In Paul's tactical mind,

this would be

a spiritual loss.

Sinclair Ferguson,

who has so much experience

with churches

and laboring toward churches

to be biblical

and healthy

and thriving,

he made this observation

with this passage in mind.

It continues to be an issue

where personal agendas

creep in

and ends up costing

the church

an incredible

and unhealthy amount

of energy

that could have otherwise

been spent

on advancement.

And so he says,

stand fast

in one spirit

with one mind

striving together

for the faith

of the gospel.

That phrase,

striving together,

it's in the plural,

present active,

meaning all of you together

continuously

working at this

right now.

Do it.

Advancing the cause.

Labor toward the goal.

Striving together.

It's most often used

in secular literature

for competing.

Like in the Greek Olympics,

striving together

toward the prize.

I don't know what image

you have of the Apostle Paul,

but through him,

through the personality

and the background

God gave him

and through all of his travels

around the Roman Empire,

he loves these images

from the Roman world.

Racing,

boxing,

wrestling matches.

In 1 Corinthians 9.26,

he says,

I don't shadow box.

I'm here beating my body.

I'm not just a guy,

you know,

theorizing about theology.

I'm in the MMA.

I've taken black eyes.

I lost a tooth,

you know.

My leg,

I walk with a limp.

He's in it.

He's in the fight.

And he says,

you church,

strive together.

One mind.

One spirit.

Like one soldier

aggressively fighting

this spiritual battle.

What does it look like

to do that?

To aggressively

go to battle

as a church?

I think we have

a wonderful example

in a man named Epaphras.

In the letter

to the Colossians

by the inspiration

of the Spirit,

Colossians 4.12,

we read this.

Epaphras,

who is one of you,

a servant of Jesus Christ,

he is always striving

or struggling

on your behalf

in his prayers.

That you may stand

mature

and fully assured

in all the will

of God.

He uses that same phrase,

striving for you,

to describe Epaphras

praying,

interceding.

So if you know someone

who prays on behalf

of others aggressively,

you know a true

prayer warrior.

And he says,

do this together,

at the same place,

at the same time,

in concert.

So interwoven

should your prayers

be fighting

for the advancement

of the kingdom

that it's like

a singular prayer.

Do this together,

one spirit,

one mind.

I think this gets

at the same description

of the early church,

Acts 4, 32.

Now the multitude

of those who were

believing were of

one heart

and one soul.

See, the way that God

started the early church,

Acts 4,

the pouring out

of the Spirit,

the same thing continues

now from city

to city

to city

to city.

Decades pass,

and God is still

working in the same way.

So it's possible,

no,

it's biblical,

and to be expected

that we as a church

would be able

to be described

that same way,

so full of the Holy Spirit,

that His mind,

the mind of Christ

is working its way

into all of us,

and to the extent

that we share

the mind of Christ,

we are sharing one mind.

To the extent

that we are praying together

for the advancement

of God's kingdom

and doing those simple,

ordinary things

He's told us to do,

we are such a church as well.

We're fighting aggressively

as if we were just

one soldier.

What about the phrase

for the faith

of the gospel?

I think in this meaning here

it's a singular article,

so the faith

of the gospel.

This means

like what Jude said

in Jude 1, 3,

contend for the faith

that was once for all

delivered to the saints.

It's the body of teaching

about Christ,

it's the faith

that we received

from Christ

through the apostles

breathed out

into the New Testament.

Contend for this truth.

Contend for the doctrines

about God

and salvation in Christ

alone

by grace

through faith in Him.

2 Thessalonians 2, 15

gives a similar instruction.

He says,

stand firm

and hold to the traditions

that you were taught by us,

either by our spoken word

or by our letter.

So we're not holding on

to these Jewish traditions

or traditions of man,

but we're holding on

to what has been handed down

within the church.

That's why it's very appropriate

for a congregation

now, 2024,

to still read

the Apostles' Creed,

the Nicene Creed,

from our confessions

and we share

this rich heritage

that's been handed down

through the church

and preserved

by the Holy Spirit.

Ferguson again commented,

any distortion

to the faith handed down

will result in failure

to live as citizens of heaven.

You see the connection

between the two.

You distort the doctrine,

you're going to mess up

the way people live.

Any distortion

to the faith handed down

will result in failure

to live as citizens of heaven.

Our Lord Jesus prayed

in John 17, 11,

Now I am no longer

in the world,

but these are in the world.

I come to you,

Holy Father,

and keep through your name

those whom you have given me

that they may be one

as we are one.

Jesus prays for the Father

by the work of the Spirit

to keep his church,

preserve them,

and may they be one,

sharing in the unity

of God himself.

Well, the second command

is to be one

from the harmony

of your shared faith.

Fight aggressively

as one soldier.

Do you have this shared faith?

Do you follow this same Christ?

There's no room

to sit on the sidelines.

Jesus says,

either you're for me,

or you're for the enemy.

If you're not following Christ,

if you're taking a wait and see,

let's see how this all turns out,

there will be no hope

for you in the end.

You follow Christ.

You join his army.

You serve him now.

You don't know

what tomorrow holds for you.

This is the hour, he says.

Today is the day

to follow Jesus.

Don't put it off to tomorrow.

Your flesh wants to have

other excuses.

This is the day

to make your allegiance

to Jesus,

the King of Kings,

certain.

Walter Gentry,

he made a connection

with this command

to strive together

with the church

to an old fable,

Aesop's fable,

probably would have been

familiar to this church

in Philippi as well.

There was a battle

in this fable

between the beasts

and the birds.

Each one had issues

against the other.

Those who were prey of one

were angry at the predators

of the other.

And so they go to war,

the beasts versus the birds.

Well, there were the bats

who fly like a bird,

but they're mammals,

like beasts.

And they didn't pick a side

in the battle.

Whoever was winning

a little bit,

they would drift over

and stay close to that side.

Well, finally,

when the battle was over

and they're deciding

who gets which land,

they had to decide

what do we do

with the bats?

And no one wanted

the bats on their side

because they're not loyal.

They don't pick a side.

They don't fight for either.

So bats were relegated

to the caves.

The moral of this story is

if you're a Christian,

you can't be a bat.

I love how Charles Spurges

pointed out,

every man must serve somebody.

We have no choice

as to that fact.

Those who have no master

are slaves to themselves.

Depend on it.

You will either serve Satan

or Christ,

either self or the Savior.

You will find sin,

self, Satan,

and the world

to be hard masters.

But if you wear

the crest of Christ,

you will find him

so meek

and lowly of heart

that you will find rest

for your souls.

Wear the crest of Christ.

Fight in his army.

And from the harmony

of our shared faith,

we fight aggressively

in a spiritual sense

as one soldier.

Number three,

be unrattled.

Be unrattled.

Paul tells the church next

that to suffer opposition

is proof you are advancing together.

Be unrattled.

Be unrattled.

To suffer opposition

is proof

that you are advancing together.

Verse 28 reads,

Not in any way,

a double negative there,

not in any way

terrified

by your adversaries,

which is to them

a proof of perdition,

but to you of salvation

and that from God.

Christians in the ancient world,

much like today,

were suspicious.

The world would look at them

and say,

Those people are weird.

You don't want to be like that.

They were considered odd

by the Roman masses,

which made them

an easy target.

There was one thing

that had happened.

It's that

when Paul got converted

in the first decade

or so of his ministry,

Caesar Augustus

was the emperor

of the Roman Empire.

But after the church

in Philippi was planted,

there was a change in power

and Nero came in.

And under Nero,

the persecution

ramped up extremely.

And Christians,

especially in Rome,

who were considered

odd and weird outcasts,

many were arrested,

burned at the stake,

thrown to the wild beasts

or to the gladiators

for show,

desperate attempts

to keep a momentum

going within the Roman Empire,

and others were crucified.

So,

in Philippi,

there's an implied need

that there's opposition,

not only threats

of division

from the inside,

but true adversaries

coming at the church

from the outside as well.

And Paul doubles down on it.

He says,

never in no way

be affrightened.

The words there,

it's don't be affrightened

by your adversaries,

but the word by is under.

Don't be ever in any way

thinking you are under

these adversaries.

These ones who are opposing you

are not above you.

Don't be afraid.

And the word afraid

is often used to describe

a horse when it startles.

So if you're going on a path

and there's a rattlesnake,

the horse will rear up,

buck you off.

It'll get rattled.

But a horse that's

on a military campaign

that's charging forward

and advancing the cause,

it has to be a horse

that's well broken in

that won't be rattled.

It's going to keep putting

one foot in front of the other.

It will not flinch

in the face of opposition

and adversaries.

He says,

be like that Calvary.

You're advancing together.

Don't rear up

and freak out.

Don't get paralyzed

by fear.

No matter how intense it gets,

never stop

charging forward.

When you think of

trembling with fear

in the context

of this church in Philippi,

there's one person

who probably comes

to mind for you.

That's exactly how

the Philippian jailer

was described.

Do you remember that?

The Philippian jailer,

he trembled with fear

in Acts 16

and he fell down

on the ground.

He was ready

to take his own life.

That same word,

affrightened.

And God takes people

like that,

so afraid

of losing their career

and their life,

but he says,

no,

tremble in the fear of God

and believe.

What must I do

to be saved?

That's the only thing

he needed to know now.

And this is good news

for people like you and me

because anyone

who has trembled

in the fear of God

never needs to tremble

out of fear of man again.

When you are opposed

for Christ,

Paul says,

this is proof.

It's a testing fire.

Your suffering

is a sign

of perdition

for the enemies,

that they will be destroyed,

but for you

of your salvation.

That word sign

or proof,

it can be translated

as it's really

a token

or an omen

of their destruction

and living proof

for you

that you will live.

In other words,

a token

or a sign like this,

it's to take

all of the available evidence,

line it all up

on the table,

then arrange it

in a logical order

and come to

a conclusion.

That's a proof.

So he says,

look at this church,

what's happening.

You're advancing.

Christ is praying for you.

I'm praying for you.

You are striving together.

Keep doing that.

And yes,

you're facing opposition.

Let that be proof

that the kingdom of Christ

is advancing

and will not fail.

And if the kingdom

of Christ

is advancing,

you can know

that the Father

will make all

of the enemies

of Christ

crumble

under his feet.

They will be destroyed

and you will be

victorious

with Christ.

your foes

will fail

for sure.

King Jesus prayed

in John 17, 14,

I have given them

your word.

The world

has hated them

because they are

not of this world

just as I am

not of the world.

And I do not pray

that you should take them

out of the world,

but you should keep them

from the evil one.

for they are not

of the world

just as I am

not of the world.

And when your gospel

grips like that

Philippian jailer,

like every true believer,

then you learn

to practice your faith

without the fear

of man.

You don't need

to ever be rattled again

if you're a Christian.

And when we do

face opposition

and most likely

in our lifetimes

we'll feel more

and more of this

ratcheting up,

we need to remind ourselves

you're going to need

to remind me

this is proof

that the kingdom

of God

is advancing.

Well, the fourth

dose of vitamin B

for today

is be kept.

Be unrattled

and now be kept.

It is God

who has gripped you

and he will hold you

by his gospel.

Be kept.

It is God

who has gripped you

and he will hold you

by his gospel.

You can lose

the thread

of the theology.

Why is Paul

anchoring all of

these exhortations?

It's exactly this.

In verse 27

he says

you're going to live

in a manner

worthy of the gospel.

It's the gospel

that defines you.

In verse 28

he reminds them

salvation

is from God.

Don't forget

that church.

In verse 29

he says

for to you

it has been granted

on behalf

of Christ.

It's for Christ's sake

that you're saved.

And it was granted

for you

to believe.

The implied need

here for this church

in Philippi

is that

through the opposition

and the hardships

like us

they can ask

those questions.

If my suffering

continues to be

this hard

will I be able

to keep going?

Maybe I never

belonged

to Christ

in the first place.

Maybe God

started this work

in me

but I don't know

if I can finish it.

That's what's

so common

for a flesh

to ask

and that's what

he's been answering

so far in chapter 1.

Christ started this

he will finish it.

And he gives him

the strength

in verse 28

he says

your salvation

is from God.

It was God

who granted

for you to believe

in the first place.

Verse 29

God gives you faith

to receive the gospel

on behalf

of Christ.

You believe

for Christ's sake.

He confirms this

to the church

in Rome as well.

Romans 5

2

Through him

Jesus Christ

we have also

obtained access

by faith

to this grace

in which we stand.

Be citizens.

He who made you

a citizen

will keep you

as a citizen.

See the Roman

citizenship

could be bought

but it was much

better if

you didn't have

to go buy it

or work for it.

If you could simply

have it granted

to you.

And that's the word

he uses.

Your faith

has been granted

to you.

You belong

because God

gave it

as a gift.

Remember in Acts

22-28

the centurion

said with a large

sum I obtained

this citizenship

to be a Roman

and Paul says

but I was born

a citizen.

It was granted

to me.

So God

is the one

who will keep you.

Be kept

church.

Remind yourself

of this.

Well there's that

little boat

in the ocean

being tossed

with big waves.

Even the grown-ups

are afraid

perhaps.

But there's a dad

standing

his feet are

shoulder width

apart

holding the

three-year-old.

the three-year-old

is holding

on to that

dad's neck

as tight

as he can.

But the dad

is holding

on even

tighter.

See we

hold on to

Christ but

it's Christ

who keeps

us.

King Jesus

prayed in

verse 12

of chapter 17

of John.

He said

I kept

them in

your name.

Those who

you gave

me I

have kept

and not

one of

them is

lost.

So church

you too

be kept.

when your

gospel

gripped

you grow

in your

assurance

of salvation

and this

is proof

of his

faithfulness

to you.

Well the

fifth and

final dose

of vitamin

B for us

today is

be

compassionate.

Be

compassionate.

Keep

receiving

Christ

and suffering

upon him

together.

Be

compassionate.

Keep

receiving

Christ

and suffering

upon him

together.

Verse 29

reads

it has been

granted on

behalf of

Christ

for you to

suffer for

his sake.

Verse 30

having the

same conflict

which you

saw in me

and now

here is

in me.

It has

been granted

on behalf

of Christ.

That word

granted could

be translated

graced.

It has been

graced to

you to

believe and

it has been

graced to

you to

suffer.

The word

suffer could

be word

for word

translated as

be

emotioning.

The root

is

like the

passion.

So

compassionate

means to

suffer with.

Be

compassionate.

Keep

suffering

with

Christ.

The

implied need

for Christians

who are

suffering

is to

question

the goodness

of God.

Why did

King Jesus

call me to

him and

to his

church

just to

suffer?

It's so

hard.

Is he a

good king?

Well in

verse 29

and 30

Paul says

that you

believe in

him and

you suffer

for him.

and the

preposition

for could

be upon.

You

suffer

upon

him.

So as

you're going

through a

suffering Christ

is right

there under

you sustaining

you carrying

you through.

That's how much

you are suffering

together with

him.

It says it's

been graciously

given to

you.

Exceedingly

with you

for the

sake of

Christ

to suffer

together.

Jesus warned

every disciple

Matthew 10

39

whoever finds

his life

will lose

it and

whoever loses

his life

for my

sake will

find it.

In John

17 18

he prayed

as you

sent me

into the

world

I have

also sent

them

into the

world.

So to

be a

Christian

is to

lose

your life

for living

for yourself

but to

find eternal

life

living in

Christ.

And just

as Christ

came on a

mission to

lay down

his life

for the

sake of

others and

for his

kingdom

to be a

Christian is

to lay

down your

life and

follow Christ

following him

as he advances

his kingdom

even through

suffering.

We have so

much encouragement

in all the

New Testament

that the

Christian church

is a

suffering

church and

God doesn't

waste a

drop of

suffering.

I won't

read these

for today

but I

want to

encourage you

God does

at least

three things

every time

we're going

through seasons

of suffering.

Number one

as you

suffer King

Jesus

refines you

1 Peter 6

and 7

describing the

suffering like

being tested

by fire

to purify

and refine

number two

King Jesus

comforts you

2 Corinthians

1 5

do you

suffer in

Christ

well you

can know

for certain

you will

be comforted

in Christ

to be

comforted

by Christ

himself

is worth

any

suffering

and number

three King

Jesus

enables you

and I

to rejoice

1 Peter 4

12 through

18

that same

letter

see the

suffering

starts and

it feels

like a

refiner's

fire

but on

the far

side of

that

is joy

and rejoicing

you know

Christ on

such a

deeper

level

the

illustration

for me

to sum

up this

last point

of being

compassionate

keep receiving

Christ and

suffering upon

him for his

kingdom together

and summarizing

the theme of

the sermon

of a soldier

aggressively

advancing

the cause

it came

to my mind

about Uriah

I was thinking

about how

you know

David

a man who

God used

so mightily

and through

the line

of David

would come

the great

king

Jesus

but at

the end

of David's

life

he's an

anti-hero

and instead

we have

this foil

this contrast

which is

Uriah

the Hittite

David has

power

Uriah

is a man

under orders

David stays

back in the

palace

Uriah

is on the

battlefield

the front

lines

David takes

what's not

his

Uriah

restrains

himself

from taking

what is

his

when his

nation

was at

war

and his

fellow

soldiers

were in

battle

and David

called him

back to try

to entrap

him

you remember

how Uriah

actually slept

on the hard

floor in the

steps outside

of his

home

and he said

how can I

be enjoying

inside the

comfort and

being with

my wife

when the

army of

God

is fighting

and even

when his

adversary

in this

case

David

intended

evil

Uriah

obeyed

those

orders

went to

those

front

lines

and

fought

to his

death

he suffered

and Uriah

the Hittite

died

as a

citizen

of heaven

so in

this

example

Uriah

is a

shadow

of Christ

he did

not take

the

privileges

that he

was

entitled

for

but for

the sake

of his

mission

for your

life

for your

soul

for eternity

Jesus

Christ

fought for

you to

the very

end

he showed

the greatest

restraint

and he's

victorious

in his

battle

he crushed

the serpent's

head

and he

will come

back

for his

own

when

your

gospel

gripped

you

suffer

with

King

Jesus

with

his

people

in

Christ's

name

Charles

had in

Spurgeon's

last sermon

right before

he died

his last

little paragraph

his last

point reads

like this

King

Jesus

is the

most

magnanimous

of captains

magnanimous

means

great

hearted