Living in Light of the Gospel

Philippians chapter 1 is found on page 980 in the Pew Bibles.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

This summer we've been doing a series in Proverbs, but today we're taking a break from that

to look at a passage from Philippians.

So we're going to read Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 to chapter 2 verse 11.

Philippians 1:27

So let's read these words, the Apostle Paul's words to the church in Philippi and God's

word to us today.

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and

see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one

mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything

by your opponents.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe

in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and

now hear that I still have.

So, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the

spirit, any affection, and sympathy, complete my joy, by being of the same mind, having the same

love, being in full accord, and of one mind.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant

than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form

of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself.

By taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human

form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Let's pray.

Father, we pray that you would speak to us through your word this morning, open our hearts and minds,

shape us, that we may live as citizens in your kingdom today because of it.

In Christ's name, amen.

Well, as we've said this morning, we have the joy of joining together with our Ethiopian

and Eritrean ministry to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I want to thank those of you from the Ethiopian and Eritrean ministry for coming to

worship with us this morning.

We're thankful for the way that you're reaching out to people who speak Tigrinya and Amharic with

the gospel of Christ every week.

In Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, the apostle Paul says, our citizenship is in heaven.

Philippians 3:20

And from there, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's really why we join together today.

That whatever nation we belong to, whatever language we speak, whatever family we were brought

up in, whatever place on earth feels like home.

The Bible says we're united in Christ because we belong to something greater than any of

those things.

That we're citizens of the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

That's where our ultimate hope comes from, and that's where our ultimate loyalty belongs.

So this morning, what we're looking at is what it means to live as citizens of Christ's kingdom

in this world.

Chapter 1, verse 27, our passage begins, Paul says, only let your manner of life be worthy

of the gospel of Christ.

Or more literally, the verse could be translated, only live as citizens worthy of the gospel of

Christ.

Paul was writing to the Christians in the city of Philippi.

And the city of Philippi was a proud, privileged, prosperous city.

It was a leading city in the region of Macedonia.

It was located on the main east-west road, lots of people passing through.

And most importantly, it was a Roman colony whose citizens enjoyed special advantages.

So here's the way it worked.

If you were a citizen of Philippi, you were treated under the law as if you were a citizen

of the capital city, Rome.

So that meant a few things.

That meant, first of all, you didn't have to pay certain taxes.

Second of all, you had the right to purchase and own property and to appeal.

And third, you had the right to appeal directly to Caesar in legal matters.

So you had more legal protections, you had more property rights, and you had freedom from

some taxation.

So even though you didn't, and normally those privileges only belong to people who lived in

the capital city of Rome.

But for the Philippians, if you were a citizen of Philippi, even though you didn't actually

live in Rome, you were treated as if you were a citizen of Rome.

And you had all the rights and privileges and responsibilities of Roman citizens.

So what Paul's doing is he's reminding the Christians in Philippi, he's saying you're not

just citizens of Philippi who have special privileges in the Roman Empire, but as Christians, you're

citizens of heaven.

You're citizens of Jesus Christ's heavenly kingdom.

And you have special privileges before God the Father.

You have free access to the presence of God the Father through Jesus Christ.

You have the Holy Spirit living inside you.

You have the encouraging Word of God.

God, your sins have been paid for.

You don't owe anything on that account because Jesus Christ has paid it all.

Even though you live on earth, God treats you as citizens of heaven with all the rights and

responsibilities that come with that.

And so what Paul says in verse 27, he says, live as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Live in a way that rightly reflects your citizenship in heaven.

And he even says, only do this.

And in some sense, he's sort of saying this is the one thing you need to do.

This is the one thing you need to know in order to fulfill God's commands and God's calling

on you as a Christian.

He's saying, above all, at all costs, whatever happens, whether I'm with you or not, do this

one thing, live as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ.

And in this passage, Paul shows us that living as citizens of Christ's heavenly kingdom means

two things.

First of all, it means to stand boldly for Christ.

And we see that in verses 27 through 30.

That'll be our first point.

We're to stand boldly for Christ because we're soldiers in God's army.

The second thing Paul teaches us is that we need to serve humbly in Christ because we're

members of God's family.

We see that in chapter 2, 1 through 4.

And finally, in chapter 2, verse 5 to 11, we'll see how through Christ we have the power

and the enablement to do both of those things.

So first, as citizens of heaven, Paul says, stand boldly for Christ in the face of external

pressures.

Look down at these verses, verses 27 to 30 of chapter 1.

Look at some of Paul's language.

Verse 27, he talks about standing firm.

Talks about striving side by side.

Not being frightened by opponents.

Verse 30, he says, you're engaged in a conflict.

Paul's using athletic and military imagery to describe the Christian life.

And the people in Philippi would have recognized that.

The city of Philippi was full of military veterans.

It was a place where veterans of the Roman army would go and retire.

And so, they would have recognized this language because when the Roman army went into battle,

they would march side by side.

Sometimes, the front row of soldiers would carry their shields in front of them,

and then the people behind them would carry their shields on top of their heads.

So, it was sort of like a wall and a ceiling that protected the army and made them, in many ways,

almost invincible when they stood together.

And Paul says, as fellow believers, you need to stand firm and stand together, just like an army.

Paul says, you're in a conflict.

Verse 30, that word conflict is the word agon.

It's where we get the word agony.

It's a word that can also refer to a long-distance marathon or a wrestling match,

something that is intense and prolonged.

And Paul says, you're engaged in this agonizing conflict, this struggle.

And so am I, he says.

We're in this together.

We're on the same team.

And he says, we need to stand boldly for Christ together against opposition to the gospel.

Now, just to be clear, Paul is not advocating for Christians to use any kind of physical violence

or force or threats against non-Christians.

But he is saying we're in a spiritual battle.

And we need to stand firm.

We need to remain united and unwavering against external pressures.

Now, you might say, well, what exactly were the external pressures that the Christians in Philippi were facing?

Well, if you look at Acts 16, it tells the story of when Paul comes to Philippi

and begins preaching the gospel there and the church begins there.

And for the first couple of weeks that Paul is there, everything seems to go pretty smoothly.

He finds a group of women who are meeting by the riverside on the Sabbath day,

who are praying to the one true God, reading the scriptures.

And Paul teaches them about the fulfillment of the scriptures in Jesus.

And Lydia, her heart is strangely warmed, and she comes to faith.

And she opens her home to Paul and Silas and Luke and Timothy, who are with him.

And for a while, everything seems to be going well.

But then, a young woman starts following Paul around and making a scene day after day.

She was a fortune teller.

She was also a slave.

And Paul discerned that she was not only being exploited by her owners for financial gain,

but she was also being oppressed by an evil spirit, which enabled her to do her fortune telling.

And so, finally, one day, Paul turns and he rebukes the evil spirit in the name of Jesus Christ,

and the evil spirit leaves, and that's when everything goes crazy.

Her owners are furious because their business is done.

They seize Paul and Silas.

They drag them into the marketplace.

They accuse them of being foreign agents and disturbing the peace of the city.

They rally a crowd against them.

They have them beaten and thrown into jail.

Now, that was how the church in Philippi began.

Now, Paul and Silas were released.

The authorities actually come to them, and they just want to release them quietly.

And Paul says, actually, no, you need to acknowledge that what you did was wrong.

And what Paul's doing there is he's actually sort of providing some legal protection for the Christians

who are going to stay in Philippi after he leaves,

because he doesn't want the same thing to happen to them.

And so, he makes the authorities publicly apologize because they were wrong.

There was no grounds on which they should have beaten and imprisoned Paul and Silas as Roman citizens.

So, Paul stands up for the believers who are going to come after him,

but still think about it.

The church in Philippi began with verbal harassment, false accusations, mob violence,

and imprisonment of its primary leaders.

Now, think about it.

If that's how this church began,

and everybody knew that Trinity Baptist Church began with a riot and violence against its leaders,

and you knew that that was the reputation that whatever happened, that it was a mess.

Think about it.

You might be a little hesitant to just come in here and visit on a Sunday morning,

because you might think,

I don't know what's going to happen to me.

What if I join them?

What if people turn on me?

And if you did join such a church,

you might be a little wary of publicly acknowledging that you were part of it.

Oh, you're with them?

The guy who caused a riot?

You see why Paul has to encourage the Philippians to stand boldly for Christ?

They really did have opponents.

Paul wasn't making that up.

There were real things they could have been fearful of,

and Paul said,

don't be frightened.

Don't be driven by your fear.

Now, what about us?

Right?

Most of us aren't facing the same kind of physical threats,

the same kind of opposition that Paul and the Philippians were,

but what are the external pressures that we face?

You know, in the book of Revelation,

it's quite interesting.

There are three figures in the book of Revelation that represent different forms of opposition to God's people.

One of them is the beast.

And the beast simply attacks God's people by intimidating them and by physically persecuting them.

The second is the false prophet who seeks to lead God's people astray by deceiving them,

by filling their minds with lies and half-truths.

Just like the serpent in the Garden of Eden who said,

did God really say that?

God must be wanting to hold something back from you that would be good for you.

Don't you see this fruit?

Why would he say no to that?

Just try it out.

Deception.

And the third figure is the prostitute who undermines God's people by seducing them.

The picture is she's enchanting God's people to fall in love with this present world and its pleasures

and to lose all desire for Christ.

So we have intimidation, deception, and seduction.

Each of these are tactics of the enemy of our souls, and we need to be vigilant against them all.

But here in Philippians 1, Paul focuses on intimidation.

The things that press us to be driven by the fear of man instead of by faith in God.

Now what might that look like for some of us here?

Maybe you work in academia.

Now physical violence is pretty rare in academic circles.

But there's plenty of passive-aggressive undercutting and sly political maneuvering.

Some of you have experienced that and been in the middle of it.

And then occasionally a professor publicly adopts a position that is outside the current boundaries

of academic orthodoxy.

And they might find protesters outside their house,

their names slandered in the student newspaper editorial page.

Perhaps they even get fired.

Now, I am not promoting the example of all professors who publicly espouse controversial views.

The Bible doesn't encourage Christians to be obnoxious.

It does encourage us to be discerning and wise.

But you know, if you're a professor or a PhD student or a trainee of some kind,

are you intimidated into saying nothing publicly about your faith in Christ?

Or only acknowledging your faith privately to groups of fellow Christians?

Are you trying to be like Joseph of Arimathea,

who was a disciple of Jesus but secretly out of fear of the authorities?

You know, you may need to discern what this means,

given your particular context and your particular position.

But let me encourage you, students, professors, stand boldly for Christ.

Don't let fear drive you to be silent or to make your faith a completely private thing.

Now, maybe some of you feel pressure from a different direction.

Maybe some of you feel pressure from non-Christian family members.

You know, when Paul was seized and dragged before the authorities in Philippi,

they accused him of disturbing the city and advocating foreign customs.

They said, these men are Jews and they're advocating customs that are unlawful for us as Romans to practice.

They were basically framing Paul and accusing him of being a foreign outsider who was undermining their culture.

And maybe you feel a tension along these lines.

Right?

Maybe your parents or your grandparents are from a different religious background.

Maybe you come from a country where there are very few Christians,

or a culture or part of the world where there are very few Christians.

Maybe your family members have even told you,

either explicitly or implicitly,

if you become a Christian,

if you get baptized,

you'll be betraying your heritage.

You know, our religion has been good for our family for generations.

Why isn't it good enough for you?

Or maybe your parents are happily non-religious,

modern American secularists,

and they can't see why you're so into this Jesus thing.

Why do you spend so much time reading the Bible and meeting with other Christians and praying?

Why do you want to give away so much money

and go overseas to do mission work

or move to the inner city?

Can't you just settle down and live a normal American life?

The Apostle Paul says,

stand firm and strive together,

side by side.

Don't try to fight these battles alone.

You need the prayers and the encouragement

and wisdom and discernment

and the love of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Whatever might be the external pressures that you're facing,

stand firm and stand together.

And Paul encourages them to trust that in all their struggles,

in all the pressures they're experiencing,

that God is working out His purpose.

Verse 28,

this is a clear sign to them of their destruction,

but of your salvation and that from God.

One writer said,

it is God who sends the trials they must undergo.

It is God who gives the solid resistance with which they must confront them.

And it is God who gives the assurance of salvation which follows.

And Paul goes on,

verse 29,

for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ,

you should not only believe in Him,

but also suffer for His sake.

That's a very strong statement.

Right?

Sometimes we talk about how faith is a gift from God.

This verse affirms that.

But this verse says,

not only is faith in Christ a gift of God,

but suffering for Christ's sake is also a gift from God.

It's actually the same verb,

the same verb that's used when talking about spiritual gifts

is used right here.

It has been granted.

It has been given to you by God.

Now,

Paul's not saying that every kind of suffering that we endure

is a gift from God in the same way.

Right?

Sometimes suffering is God's instrument to correct us

when we fall into sin.

Sometimes suffering is just part of the human experience.

Living in a fallen world.

Sometimes it's,

it's not always a good thing.

But Paul here is talking about suffering for the sake of Christ.

For the sake of righteousness and faithfulness and loyalty to Christ.

In other words,

think about it this way.

Have you ever suffered,

have you ever gone through a difficulty

and thought,

you know,

if I wasn't committed to following Christ,

I would have an easy way out of this.

Or I wouldn't even be in this situation in the first place.

If you're in a situation and you realize

following Christ is going to be harder,

and yet you say,

yes,

I'm committed to following Christ,

even if it is harder.

Paul says that,

Paul,

that's what suffering for the sake of Christ is.

And 1 Peter 3 says,

if you should suffer for righteousness sake,

you will be blessed.

Jesus said in the Beatitudes,

blessed are you when others revile you

and persecute you

and utter all kinds of evil against you

falsely on my account.

How are we blessed when we suffer for Christ's sake?

It's probably not how most of us tend to think about it,

right?

Well,

I think for one thing,

it draws us deeper.

It draws us closer to our Savior

who suffered for us

and who even now suffers with us.

You know,

when Jesus confronted Saul

on the road to Damascus

and Paul was going to persecute the church,

Jesus did not say,

Paul,

or Saul,

Saul,

why do you persecute the church?

Even though that's exactly what he was going to do,

he said,

Saul,

Saul,

why are you persecuting me?

In other words,

when you're opposing God's people,

you're opposing me.

When you're hurting God's people,

you're hurting me.

Jesus is united with us.

And so,

when we suffer for his sake,

he is right there with us.

He feels that.

And so,

when we suffer for Christ's sake,

we're united more deeply with him

and with believers

who suffer throughout the world

for the sake of the gospel of Christ.

So,

Paul encourages us.

It's the first way we live

as citizens worthy of the gospel.

Stand boldly for Christ

against external pressures,

against intimidation,

because we're soldiers in his army.

But the second expression

of living as citizens

worthy of the gospel of Christ

is found in chapter 2,

verses 1 to 4.

We're not just to stand boldly for Christ,

we're also to serve humbly in Christ.

Because we're not just an army,

we're also a family in Christ.

If the end of chapter 1

is about our response

to external pressures,

the beginning of chapter 2

focuses on our response

to internal challenges.

And if you've been around the church

for any length of time,

you know that the enemies

we face as Christians

are not only external.

When I joined the staff

of InterVarsity

to do full-time campus ministry

in 2003,

my pastor at the time

said to me,

the number one reason

why missionaries leave

the mission field

is not because of external opposition,

but because of internal conflicts

with coworkers.

And it was a helpful word for me.

In my first year

doing campus ministry,

one of my biggest challenges

was my relationship

with my supervisor.

He and I were very different

in personalities

and working styles.

As a result,

some of our sinful tendencies

and weaknesses

became quickly evident

to one another.

I had to learn

to initiate hard conversations

when I became frustrated.

Instead of just being silent

and growing inwardly resentful,

I had to listen to his feedback

and examine some of my own blind spots.

It wasn't easy

and it didn't always come naturally.

But this is what Paul says

we must do here

in verses one to four.

Look down at verse one.

Paul begins by reminding us

of all that we share

in common in Christ.

He says four things

we share in common

with every other Christian.

Encouragement in Christ,

comfort from the love

of God the Father,

participation or sharing

in the Holy Spirit,

and affection and sympathy

with other believers.

Paul says,

think about this.

You have the whole Trinity,

the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

on your side.

And you have the community of faith,

the affection and sympathy

that we have for one another.

You're part of the family

of believers.

Think of all that you have

in common

with every other Christian,

even the ones you think

you share very little

in common with,

the whole Trinity

and the church.

And then in verse two,

he gives us four things

to pursue,

being of the same mind,

having the same love,

being in full accord,

being of one mind.

And that word translated mind

in verse two,

as well as in verse five,

it's a word that means

both feeling and thinking.

So Paul's not just saying,

have the exact same ideas.

Because you know what?

We won't always have

the exact same ideas

as Christians or opinions.

Paul's talking about

sharing a common attitude

and purpose

and being able to sympathize

with one another's thoughts

and feelings.

And Paul says,

this is what will fill me

with joy

as we feel and think

according to Christ.

Psalm 133 says,

behold how good

and pleasant it is

when brothers and sisters

dwell together in unity.

For there the Lord

has commanded His blessing,

life forevermore.

You know,

pursuing unity

and love with other believers

is not always easy.

Sometimes it can be

even more challenging

than dealing with

external opposition

to the faith.

But Paul says,

it's necessary

and ultimately

it's life-giving.

You know,

I think one of the

sweetest blessings

that I have experienced

as a follower of Christ

is seeing Christian believers

who were once angry

and adversarial

and accusatory

against each other

humble themselves

before God,

confess their sins

to one another,

ask and receive forgiveness,

forgiveness,

be reconciled,

and go on to appreciate

and honor

and love one another

and even to work together.

I can think of times

this has happened

in my own life

with some people

that I know

and love even today.

It's also happened

in the history

of this church.

A long time ago,

before most of us

were here,

in the 1990s,

there were some messy

conflicts in this church.

There were bad decisions

made,

many people were hurt,

many left the church,

and for five years

this church struggled

and barely survived

with about 25 members

and no pastor.

And then one night

there was a church

prayer meeting

and people began

confessing their sins

even from years ago

and seeking one another's

forgiveness

and beginning to heal,

seek God's healing

from hurts

that had been

from long in the past.

And the people

who were there

at that prayer meeting

say it was an important

turning point.

And God began

to work in this church

in new ways

after that.

In particular,

the next month

God brought a new pastor

seemingly out of nowhere

and the church

began to grow again.

Now I want to acknowledge

reconciliation

doesn't always happen

immediately

when there's been

conflict and wrongdoing

in the past.

Sometimes people

want to reconcile

but they're not quite

ready to repent

or they are so blind

to the ways

they've hurt

someone else

in the past

that it's hard

for the other person

to fully receive them.

Sometimes we need

patience

through that process.

Sometimes there's

real forgiveness

but then trust

takes longer

to rebuild

and that can be

appropriate

at times.

Reconciliation

is often a process

that requires

patience and prayer.

prayer.

But Paul encourages us.

This is what we're

called to in Christ

and let me just say

it's really sweet

when you can

persevere

through that process

and be able

to look back

and say

boy we've come

a long way

and God has

kept us together

and we haven't

just cut each other

off

and gone our

separate ways

and left each other

alone

but we found

a way

in Christ

to love

one another.

Whatever the situation

might be

Paul shows us

how to pursue unity

in verses 3 and 4.

In each of these verses

there's a contrast.

You notice

there's a not

but contrast.

He says

do nothing

from selfish ambition

or conceit

but instead

live in humility

count others

more significant

than yourselves.

Don't

let each of you

look

not only

to your own

interests

but also

to the interests

of others.

Someone said

humility is not

thinking less

of yourself

but thinking

of yourself

less.

Seeking the good

of others

and not just

our own.

Even seeking

the good of others

above our own.

So Paul says

we need to stand

boldly in Christ

because we're

an army.

We need to serve

one another

humbly in Christ

because we're

a family.

Now before I go

on to the third

point let me

say this.

There are some

Christians who

are bold

and confident.

They know the

word of God.

They preach the

gospel to people

even if they've

never met

and people who

they've known

all their lives.

They start new

ministries even if

the money hasn't

come in yet.

They pray for

people to be

healed.

They drive out

demons in Jesus'

name.

They confront

people with

the truth.

They correct

people who

have fallen

into error.

But you know

what?

Sometimes to be

honest these bold

Christians can be

hard to deal

with.

Because some

of these bold

Christians are

stubborn and they

think they're always

right and they

don't listen well.

They think I know

the facts so I

don't really care

how you feel.

And in their

zeal for the

gospel they damage

relationships without

even realizing it.

And then on the

other side there are

some Christians who

are humble and

kind.

They visit the

sick and feed the

hungry and hug the

lonely and listen to

the perplexed and

forbear with

difficult people.

They forgive those

who have hurt them

and give them

another chance.

They take out the

garbage and close

up the building after

everyone else has

left when no one

else is looking.

They have a

servant's heart.

You know sometimes

these kind and

humble Christians can

also be hard to

work with too.

Because sometimes

they can be timid

and indecisive and

always wanting to

please the people

they're serving.

So they make

excuses for people

instead of

correcting them.

And sometimes the

result is they

enable people to

remain in unhealthy

attitudes and

patterns of behavior.

Now all of us

probably tend toward

one side or the

other of this

spectrum.

Right?

If we're honest with

ourselves, one or

even both of those

descriptions sometimes

applies to us.

But Paul says we

need both.

We need to pursue

boldness and

kindness.

We need to stand

boldly and we need

to serve humbly.

This is what it

means to be citizens

of Christ's kingdom

because this is what

it means to reflect

Christ's own

character.

It's to pursue both

of these and not

just one at the

expense of the

other.

So in our

concluding section

verses 5 to 11 of

chapter 2, Paul

shows us that there's

one source of both

kindness and boldness.

Humility and

boldness.

He says have this

mind among

yourselves.

Share this attitude

among yourselves

which is yours in

Christ Jesus.

us.

And what we see in

these verses, in

verses 6 to 8, we

see Christ's humility.

We see how Christ

humbled himself and

became our brother and

brought us into God's

family.

He showed us unsurpassed

kindness.

He was equal with God.

But he didn't count

equality with God a

thing to be grasped.

That means he didn't

forcefully retain his

power and privileges for

his own advantage.

Instead he willingly

emptied his divine glory

into the form of a

bondservant.

Now that's not saying

that Jesus stopped

being fully divine when

he became fully human.

Instead it's saying

that Jesus manifested

the full divinity and

glory of God as a

fully human being.

Subject to all the

human limitations that

we experience.

Hunger and thirst,

heat and cold,

time and space,

weariness,

and ultimately death.

Paul says,

Christ became obedient

to death.

Even the shame and pain

of death on a cross.

In another Bible passage

in Titus chapter 3

Titus 3:3

verses 3 and 5

puts it this way,

describing the kindness

of Christ.

It says,

at one time we were all

foolish,

disobedient,

deceived,

and enslaved by all

kinds of passions and

pleasures.

We lived in malice and

envy, being hated and

hating one another.

But when the kindness and

love of God our Savior

appeared, he saved us.

Not because of righteous

things we had done, but

because of his mercy.

Jesus didn't just extend

kindness and humility to his

friends and family members

and people who liked him

and thanked him.

Jesus extended kindness to

people who were indifferent

and who could care less.

He extended kindness to

people who were full of

hate and envy toward him

and one another.

He extended kindness to

people who were addicted

to all kinds of passions

and pleasures.

He extended kindness not

because of righteous things

that we had done,

but because of his mercy.

You see, the message of the

Bible is not,

be a good person and try to

live a good life and

everything will be okay in

the end.

You know, that message

never changes anybody's

heart.

We might all admit that it

would be a good thing to

pursue, being a nice and

good person, but that

message alone is vague and

powerless.

The message of the Bible is

that we are more flawed and

sinful than we ever dare to

believe.

Every one of us without

exception, even our best

deeds are tainted by

self-serving and impure

motives.

Our sin was so bad that the

Son of God had to die on a

cross and in our place to

save us from it.

But the good news is that in

Jesus Christ we are more

loved and accepted than we

ever dared to hope.

We're more flawed and sinful

than we ever dared to

believe, but we're more

loved and accepted in Jesus

Christ than we ever dared to

hope because God extends his

kindness to us despite all of

our flaws and failures.

We can be reconciled to God

through Jesus Christ because of

his kindness.

Because he humbled himself to

share our humanity and even to

take our death, to die our

death.

So we can serve humbly because

of the humility of Christ who

served us and saved us.

But then we see in verses 9 to

11 that Christ, it not only

displayed humility, that Christ is

strong.

We can stand boldly because our

Savior is risen and exalted.

Verse 9 says,

Therefore God has highly exalted

him.

The same one who died on a cross

is now risen and ascended and

seated at the right hand of God, and

God has bestowed on him the name

that is above every name.

That is the name of Lord.

Jesus is Lord.

And that word Lord means God

himself.

The one at whose feet

every knee shall bow and

every tongue confess.

In the book of Isaiah,

the reading we had earlier in the

service, it says,

Turn to me and be saved,

all the ends of the earth,

for I am God and there is no

other.

By myself I have sworn.

From my mouth has gone out in

righteousness a word that

shall not return.

To me every knee will bow.

Every tongue shall swear

allegiance.

Only in the Lord it shall be said

of me are righteousness and

strength.

In the Lord all the offspring of

Israel shall be justified and

shall glory.

And what Paul is saying is that

the crucified and risen Jesus is

that Lord.

The Lord God at whose feet every

knee will bow and every tongue

will confess.

That only in him are righteousness

and strength and justification and

glory.

His kingdom will remain forever.

And we have the privilege of being

citizens in that kingdom so we can

stand boldly in the strength of the

risen Christ.

So in Christ we can serve humbly and

we can stand boldly because we have a

Savior who humbled himself to serve us

and we have a Lord who is risen and

exalted over all.

Let's pray together.

Our Father we

thank you for your son Jesus Christ.

We praise you for his humility

in laying down his life for us on a

cross.

And we praise you that you raised him in

power and glory that he is risen and

exalted.

We pray that by your spirit you would

fill us today with boldness and

confidence to stand firm in you.

Lord that we would not be driven by the

fear of other people.

Fear of other people.

Or a longing for their approval.

But that we would

stand in the confidence that we have

through Christ.

We pray also Lord that you would give us

the humility and servant heartedness of

Christ.

To love one another.

To pursue unity

through humility.

Lord we pray that this would characterize

Trinity Baptist Church.

We pray that this would characterize the

Ethiopian and Eritrean ministry.

We pray that this would characterize each of

our families

and our lives.

Lord that you would fill us with the

boldness and humility of Christ.

We pray these things in Jesus name.

Amen.