A Gospel-Worthy Life (1)

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Philippians chapter 1 is where we are as we continue through our series in the book of Philippians.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

And we're going to read verses 27 to 30, but we're going to divide this passage into two parts.

We'll cover the first half of it today, and we will cover the second half of it next Sunday.

But let's begin reading, please, at Philippians chapter 1, verse 27.

Philippians 1:27

The Bible says,

It says,

Up to this point in Paul's letter to the Philippian church, he's been focusing on updating the people about his physical well-being.

He has been updating them on the ministry of the gospel, the status of it.

Is it continuing? Has it been prevented?

And of course, all of this is set within the context of his imprisonment in Rome.

So in verse 27, Paul transitions away from his own circumstances, and he begins his pastoral instruction in this letter to the Philippian church.

Making this transition, you'll notice in verse 27, he uses the word only to open the sentence.

It's the first word in the English.

It's also the first word in the Greek that Paul wrote it in.

He used it at the beginning of the sentence to signify that his singular concern was that they live a life that was worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's what he cared about.

So he says,

I'm not sure what my future holds.

I may die.

I think God's going to let me live.

And if he lets me live, this is why.

For your progress in the faith and for your joy in the faith.

But whether I come to you or I don't come to you.

That's what he means in verse 27.

Whether I survive and I come and get to visit you again in God's grace and God's provision.

Or whether or not I'm executed and I never see you again.

My concern for you Philippians is that you live a life that's worthy of the gospel.

That your conversation, your manner of life, your behavior, your conduct as a believer would be fitting for the gospel that has actually come to you and saved you through the power of God.

It doesn't mean that we gain the gospel, that we gain salvation by being worthy.

But that we should live a life that the gospel we have already been given, that the gospel we have already been accepted is fitting of and is deserving of.

In other words, now that you're a believer, act like one, Paul says.

Whether he was present or absent, he cared deeply that these believers would live out a practical profession of their faith.

He cared that they be unwavering in their faith.

And that they would passionately pursue a life that stood firm on the gospel.

Paul didn't believe that verse 21, the conviction of that, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

He didn't believe that that should be exclusive to a small group of believers.

But that it should be at the heart of every person that has experienced salvation.

His transition from testimony to instruction communicates that a life that is consumed with Christ is not something to be admired in spiritual leaders.

But it's something to be experienced by every believer.

His example was to become their reality.

And it was time for the Philippian church to personalize this particular commitment to Christ.

There are times where we view commitment in the Christian life.

Where we view faithfulness in the Christian life.

To the extent that Paul talks about it here.

Well, it makes sense.

Paul was an apostle.

That's what he did.

He was a church planner.

He was a preacher.

Of course his whole life is supposed to be consumed with Christ.

I'm just a normal guy.

I'm just a normal person.

That's not what I do for a living.

What do you mean my life has to be consumed with Christ?

When Paul addresses this instruction, he's saying this life is not about what you do.

This life is about who you are.

And this is not to be admired.

To live as Christ is not just to be admired in spiritual leadership.

It's supposed to be experienced by any believer.

This is to be your life as well.

And of course this instruction is echoed throughout the New Testament.

Paul on different occasions and in different churches wrote the same thing.

In Ephesians he wrote,

To the Thessalonians he wrote,

To the Thessalonians he wrote,

That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,

being fruitful in every good work,

and increasing in the knowledge of God.

To the Thessalonians he wrote,

As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you,

as a father does his children,

that you would walk worthy of God,

who has called you into his kingdom and to his glory.

Paul was stressing the point that this attitude that I have is not just exclusive to leadership.

This is for every single believer.

And it's for you and me too.

That our lives are to be worthy of the gospel so that we could in truth stand and say,

For to me to live is Christ,

and to die is all the gain in the world.

The word conversation here in verse 27,

This word is from the Greek word polis,

which is used to refer to a city or a city state.

Essentially Paul's referring to a particular citizenship

as he introduces this instruction to the Philippians.

Philippi was a very proud Roman province.

They had absorbed the Roman life in every way possible.

And if you study their history, you'll understand why.

There was a patriotism in Philippi that was unique.

So when Paul wrote using this word,

they would have understood exactly what he meant.

In fact, they had gone so far in their love for Rome

and in their citizenship in Rome

that they had literally changed everything about their culture.

They changed the way they dressed.

They changed their names to Roman names in Philippi.

They adopted Latin as their primary language as opposed to Greek,

which is what it had been before.

They loved being Roman.

And they cared deeply about living their lives as worthy citizens of Rome.

It wasn't from a sense of submission to a tyrannical rule of government.

That's not what it was.

They actually viewed their life and their abilities and their purpose

in light of their contribution to society.

It's quite different than how we view life today.

Today we think about ourselves.

We always look out for ourselves first.

We look out for those that we love first.

In their life, everything about them was pushed toward contributing to their culture,

contributing to their city, contributing to Rome.

They were obsessed with being Roman.

There was an incredible patriotism there.

So when Paul writes this and he appeals to this mindset in the Philippian church

and in the city of Philippi,

he's appealing to them to not focus on being citizens of Rome,

but focus now on being worthy citizens of heaven.

In fact, in writing about this, John MacArthur said,

if the citizens of Philippi were so devoted to the honor of their human kingdom,

how much more should believers be devoted to the kingdom of Christ?

And we could fill in the blank with whatever it is that we obsess our lives about.

It could be our citizenship.

It could be our hobbies.

It could be our careers.

It could be whatever it is that you have obsessed your life,

that you have assumed in your identity as a person.

But if that thing is not the gospel of Jesus Christ,

if it's not what Christ has done for you,

then you won't live a life that is worthy of the gospel.

You may live one that's worthy of an American,

but then we're reminded of what Marty read just a moment ago,

or that he's saying,

kings and kingdoms will all pass away, the word tells us.

But there's something about that name.

There will come a day where the existence that we know it as America

will not be like it is now.

And so obsess your life about America,

and it's not going to mean much.

Obsess your life about your hobbies.

There may come a day where you can't achieve your hobbies

the way that you want to achieve them.

There may come a day when you can't experience the family

and the friendships that you have now.

So obsess your life then about the gospel and about heaven.

His point was that their conversion to Christ

had translated them into the kingdom of God,

and it was necessary for them

to live as worthy citizens of that kingdom.

He wasn't condemning their desire to be good citizens of Rome,

but he was stating that their first concern

should be living as good citizens of heaven.

Paul was concerned

that when their commitment to the gospel

was opposed by the Roman culture,

that they would stand firm on their faith

and live worthy of the gospel that had saved them.

The temptation for the Philippians

and the temptation that we will face as well

would be to soften our stand on the gospel

in order to accommodate or capitulate to

the philosophies of the culture around us.

It was okay for them to want to be Roman,

but there was going to come a point in their life

where their Roman-ness

was not going to match up very well with the gospel.

And when they were confronted by that culture,

the culture that opposed the gospel,

the culture that opposed what Christ was,

the culture that opposed what they stood for,

the culture that opposed the righteousness

that they were trying to live out,

what would they do?

Would they find a way to accommodate the culture

or would they stand firm on the gospel?

Would they find a way to capitulate

to the ever-changing whims of society

or would they stand firm on the gospel?

And it's the same struggle that we're going to have too.

When you stand for the gospel,

eventually you're going to face opposition

and that was the point.

He's encouraging them to move forward,

to strive together,

to focus in on the gospel,

but it's underneath the reality

that when you do that,

your un-Roman-ness is going to face opposition.

People are going to hate you for it.

They're going to hate what you stand for.

They're going to try to intimidate you.

And when that happens,

are you going to stand firm?

Is your life truly in that moment

going to be about Christ

and wrapped up in the gospel?

Or will you soften and cower?

And so that becomes the point of his instruction.

Of course, the nature of the gospel

should tell us what this,

how this life should be lived out.

The truth is,

the gospel-worthy life

that Paul expresses in these verses

seems to be largely absent

in the church today.

People whose perspective of life

is completely wrapped up

in being a citizen of the kingdom of God

are rare.

And the very nature of what the gospel

has done for us

communicates what we should be,

but it also shows us and reveals

how we fall short so often.

Think about what the gospel is.

The gospel we believe

is a gospel of forgiveness.

The only thing that we bring to salvation

is brokenness.

The only thing we bring to salvation is sin.

The only thing we bring to salvation

is rebellion.

Yet when we trust Christ,

he provides forgiveness

that supersedes any sin you've ever committed.

It doesn't matter how bad it is.

It doesn't matter how much you've done it.

It doesn't matter even how much

you've rejected him in the past.

When you come to Christ

and you cast yourself on him alone,

and you make him your Lord,

he forgives every sin you've committed.

He forgives every rejection

that you have perpetuated in your life.

He conquers all unbelief in your heart.

It's a gospel of forgiveness.

But if the gospel is a gospel of forgiveness,

why do so many Christians refuse to forgive?

Why don't our lives match up

with what the gospel has actually done for us?

The gospel we believe is a gospel of repentance.

Naturally, if sin is what separates us from God

and it's Christ that had to come

and pay the penalty for that sin

in order for us to be reconciled back to God,

obviously that means in order to trust Christ in faith,

we gotta turn away from everything else.

That if sin is what separates us,

sin must be repented of in our lives.

If gospel is a gospel of repentance,

yet so many Christians continue to live in willful sin,

or at least to affirm

that it's okay for others to live in sin.

When we take a stand on righteous living

and the culture opposes that,

what will you do?

Will you find a loophole somewhere in your understanding

that would allow you to live the way that you wanna live?

Or maybe you don't jump that far into it yourself,

but are you willing to accommodate

and affirm sinful behavior in somebody else's life?

Because just some of those things in the Bible,

I'm not necessarily comfortable with them,

but some of those things in the Bible,

maybe they're a little irrelevant to us today.

It was a different time now.

It was 2,000 years ago.

But God's word is unchanging.

The gospel is a gospel of repentance,

and we must stand firm on that.

It's a gospel of love.

So many Christians involve themselves

in needless division, hatefulness.

It's a gospel of life.

So many churches feel like death.

We're supposed to be preaching

that what Christ does for us is provide joy

in the midst of heartache and suffering and difficulty.

Yet we may ask a friend to come to our service

and we can't sing.

We don't want a fellowship.

We're quiet.

We preach a gospel of life,

yet what we portray is deathly.

It's a gospel of faith,

yet we often live in a state of doubt.

It's a gospel of freedom,

yet we often try to bind others afterwards by law,

sort of a bait and switch.

Come to Christ.

You don't have to do anything for it.

He'll provide salvation for free.

They believe that God will provide salvation for free,

and then you insinuate on the back end,

now you got to do all of these things.

If you don't do all these things,

maybe you didn't really get it to begin with.

So this gospel of freedom

no longer is a gospel of freedom

once you're inside the church.

Then it's a gospel of law.

It's a gospel of community,

yet so many Christians neglect the fellowship of the church.

The point is this.

The call of salvation

is a call to a radically different life

that's focused on Christ and his truth.

We're to live a life that's worthy of that gospel,

even when it inevitably leads to suffering,

as was Paul's point here.

In fact, the whole theme of these verses

is on how we should willingly and joyfully

endure suffering for our faith.

And what we'll study this morning

is three quick points

that will be much shorter than that introduction.

Three demonstrations that Paul gives

for the gospel-worthy life.

He says, whether I come to you or else I am absent,

I may hear of you,

and this is what I wanna hear.

If you're gonna live the gospel-worthy life,

this is what will be evident for you,

especially as you face persecution.

The first thing he says

is that there would be a commitment to sound doctrine,

a commitment to sound doctrine.

Look with me again at verse 27.

Only let your manner of life

be worthy of the gospel of Christ,

that whether I come and see you or else be absent,

I may hear of your affairs,

that you stand fast in one's spirit.

You stand fast in one's spirit.

Standing fast or standing firm

was a term used to picture a soldier

holding his position at all costs,

even to the point of death.

Obviously, that context and that illustration,

that word picture would be

that the soldier would be under assault for some reason.

And in that assault, he wouldn't retreat,

he wouldn't cower, he would stand firm.

He would be on the defensive,

but he would stand firm on that defensive.

And Paul writes and he says,

the gospel-worthy life,

when faced with opposition,

when faced with an assault from the enemy,

when faced with an assault from the culture,

the gospel-worthy life stands firm.

It stands firm on the defensive.

And what it's standing firm on is sound doctrine.

And this statement is the reality

that what we believe will be opposed,

and it must be defended.

It must stand firm.

The culture in which we live

claims that there is no such thing as truth.

At the very least,

it claims that truth is a personal relative matter,

and that any insinuation of absolute truth

is foolish and outdated

and even hateful, we're told now.

Believers recognize, though,

that the scriptures are the ultimate source of truth,

and that the gospel of Jesus Christ

is the only means by which a person

can know God and be given eternal life.

At some point,

no matter how much you love the culture around you,

at some point,

there's gonna be a conflict

between the way that the culture says life is supposed to be

and the way that the scripture says life is supposed to be.

When a believer in the gospel

is confronted by a culture

that vehemently denies the gospel,

it's absolutely necessary

that Christians stand firm on sound doctrine.

That's what Paul's getting across.

This gospel-worthy life stands firm

on the scriptures.

Not only do we stand firm

in light of the culture that's around us,

but there is a danger today

of Christians that aren't even standing firm

on sound doctrine within the church.

We must remain constant on the fact

that there is only one interpretation of scripture,

and that scripture,

that interpretation,

must not be manipulated

to suit the ever-changing whims of our culture.

It's one thing to stand firm

against the vehement deniers of the gospel.

It's another thing that within the church

and within Christianity

that you stand firm

on the truth of the Bible in general.

That we don't look at the culture

and look at all the secondary doctrines

maybe in the Bible

and change our mindset

of what the Bible means

and how God intended it

based on how our preferences

and our culture has changed.

But even within the church,

we stand firm on the truth of the Bible.

St. Augustine said,

if you believe what you like in the gospel

and reject what you don't like,

it's not the gospel that you believe,

but yourself.

And that's very true.

Not only does he say

we're to be committed to sound doctrine,

he also says we are to experience unity

in proclaiming the gospel.

Unity in proclaiming the gospel.

Look again at verse 27.

Only let your conversation be

as it becometh the gospel of Christ,

that whether I come and see you

or else be 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.

Standing firm pictures a defensive posture.

It's we're facing assault from the enemy,

we're facing assault from sin,

we're facing assault from unsound doctrine,

and we stand firm on that.

Striving together,

this unity in proclaiming the gospel

is the posture of offensive,

of an offensive nature.

So as we confront this culture around us,

it's not just that we defend our doctrine,

but we go on the offensive

in proclaiming the gospel,

the only thing that can actually benefit

the world around us.

We live a gospel-worthy life

when in solidarity,

we contend side by side

with other believers

for the faith of the gospel.

Unity then becomes

one of the dominant themes

of this particular book.

He's already mentioned unity,

he's mentioned partnership

in the gospel in the first chapter.

He's gonna go on in the next passage

and in chapter two

to talk about the necessity

for unity and for humility

as they look to one another

to engage in gospel work.

He's gonna call out

a specific group of ladies

in chapter four

that for some reason

had some contention.

He's gonna call them out

specifically in verse two

of chapter four

that they'd be of the same mind

in the Lord.

Unity in the gospel

is absolutely necessary

for us to go on the offensive

in this gospel-forsaken world.

And that's where we get our mission.

It's not just to defend,

it's to push forward.

The term comes from an athletic term

that pictures a team of people

standing shoulder to shoulder,

leaning into the opposition,

leaning in.

It's not just defending against,

it's leaning in.

I think most of us would say,

and I'm gonna put myself in this boat,

most of us would stand firm.

If somebody were to confront us

with some type of unsound doctrine,

we would stand firm

on what our belief is.

But how many of us

without even being confronted

are actually pushing forward

in an offensive with the gospel

to actually tell people

that their sin will damn them to hell

and that their only hope

that they have

is that if they trust

the gospel of Jesus Christ,

that if they make Christ their Lord

and turn away from their sinfulness,

that's the only means

by which they can truly know God

and have eternal life.

It's one thing to defend.

It's another thing

to go on the offensive.

The church is weakened

when believers lose focus

of their singular purpose

as the church,

which is the faithful proclamation

of the gospel.

That's our mission.

That's what we do.

That's what we're supposed to do,

not just by the preacher

on a Sunday morning,

but every day.

Proclaim the gospel.

The good news

is what the word means.

We do that with joy,

but we do it together as well.

We splinter often.

Not us,

but the church in general.

Splinters often

because we lose focus

of that purpose.

The truth is

we have no other strings

to our bow.

We're often tempted

to take a stand

on anything and everything

except the gospel.

We litter our social media feeds

with every possible opinion

about politics

and sports

and entertainment.

Yet how often

do we go on the offensive

and proclaim the gospel?

We sit at work

day by day

and we'll have

a hundred conversations

with the person

that sits in the cubicle

next to us.

We'll have a hundred conversations

about anything

and everything

we can think of.

But how many of us

have locked arms

with the church

and gone on the offensive

to proclaim the gospel

to those people?

The gospel is the only thing

that can help them.

And we've been commanded

to share it.

So not only does

the gospel-worthy life

stand firm

on truth,

but it unites

with the mission

of the church

and goes on the offensive

to share the gospel.

Then finally,

we see faithfulness

in the face of opposition.

Faithfulness

in the face

of opposition.

Look at the beginning

of verse 28

and this is where we'll stop.

And in nothing terrified

by your adversaries.

This really is the end

of this particular series

that Paul's writing.

The punctuation

that's given to us

in the church Bibles

is a little bit confusing.

If you've got a scripture journal,

it actually ends there

with a period.

It's the end of the sentence

and then the next part

of that phrase

picks up as a new sentence

which begins,

this is to them

an evident sign

of destruction

and of salvation

for you

and that from God.

So when we look

at the construction

of this the way

that I believe

Paul intended it

to be written,

we see that this third thing

in verse 28

is actually the end

of a series.

That in this demonstration

of the gospel,

this demonstration

of the gospel-worthy life,

we stand firm,

we unite in proclaiming

the gospel,

striving together

for the faith

of the gospel.

And then he tacks on here,

not being fearful

of any of your opponents

in anything.

What's translated here

as terrified

is an equestrian term.

Speaks of a startled horse

suddenly bolts

and bucks his rider.

It gives the idea

of being skittish

or constantly on edge.

And Paul wasn't downplaying

the reality of fear

when coming up

against physical harm.

He wasn't denying that

or downplaying that.

This was an instruction

not to panic

or live in paranoia

to the point

that it would actually

prevent you

from standing firm

in proclaiming the gospel.

It was meant

to be a reminder

to them

that as citizens

of the kingdom of God,

their king

was in control.

That as they have

believed the gospel,

as they have been

translated into this

kingdom of God,

their primary citizenship

is now heaven

and their king

rules it all.

And they can trust

his purpose

and they can trust

his plan.

Now that plan

is probably going

to include

some persecution

in some form

or another.

For them,

it was going to

actually include

martyrdom.

That may not be

the case for us,

especially to that extent,

but there's going

to be opposition.

There's going

to be difficulty

and we all know that.

We're not foolish to it.

Can I be honest

and tell you

that this is where

I am the weakest

personally.

It's one thing

for me to stand

firm on the gospel.

I can do that.

I enjoy theology.

I enjoy studying

the Bible.

I enjoy having

conversations about that.

I'm full of opinions.

Just ask Julie.

It's one thing

for me to proclaim

the gospel.

It's kind of my job.

I get to do that

every Sunday.

I get to stand up here

and preach the word.

Where I personally

struggle

is living in a

constant state

of fear

for actually

doing those things.

I can build up

a confidence

to come into

a church worship

service because

everybody expects

if they're going

to come to church,

they expect to be

preached to.

There's nothing

really to be scared

of with that.

It's another thing

for me to walk over

to my next door

neighbor,

Karina,

and actually tell her,

you know what?

I'm actually a pastor

and I'd love to

tell you about the Bible.

I'd love to tell you

about the gospel.

I live in this state.

This skittishness

that just

we're creeping along

in this Christian life

as far as the culture

around us.

We're so afraid

of the persecution

that inevitably will come.

We're so nervous

about what people

are going to think

and what people

are going to say

because our pride

rules everything

in our hearts.

We're so nervous

about that

that we never actually

end up proclaiming

the gospel

because we're jumpy

at every little thing.

I don't know

what that person

is going to think

and maybe they'll

think I'm coming

on too strong

or maybe it'll

affect my ability

to move up

in my job.

Maybe my wife

who's not a believer

maybe my wife

not Julie

but maybe your wife

that's not a believer

maybe your wife

that's not a believer

maybe this is going

to affect my

if I really get serious

about serving the Lord

and if I really

try to share the gospel

with her

she might think

that I'm just

some kind of fanatic

she may leave me

and I love my wife

and I want my wife

to leave me.

If I really try

to push my kids

if I really try

to teach them the gospel

I really try to

get them to come

to church

maybe they're going

to resent me

in some way

maybe it's going

to affect my boldness

or my ability

to get a promotion

maybe it's going

to affect my friendships

yes yes

it will affect

all of those things

in one way or another

but the gospel

worthy life

lives in the reality

that their king

controls it all

and if Christ

is our Lord

he's the one

we serve

not our boss

not our spouse

not our friendships

all of those things

are important

so long as

our life

is first

primarily consumed

with Christ

a believer

that's consumed

by fear

will never stand

firm

nor will it

strive for the gospel

this isn't the type

of boldness

that comes

when we

take a deep breath

either

and just kind

of look inside

and muster up

any kind of courage

it's not the type

of boldness

that Paul's

referencing here

this is a boldness

I think that comes

through the power

of God

through the spirit

of God

as we draw

close to him

as we daily

preach the gospel

even to ourselves

remind ourselves

of what God

has actually

done for us

God through his

power builds

this confidence

it's given

as we

truly

trust God

that's the point

everything we do

is built

on faith

which is why

this is such

a struggle

it's a struggle

for me

because

in reality

my faith

is often

very weak

those of you

from Laurel

know exactly

how weak

it is

took me

a year

and a half

to actually

move forward

with this

church plant

I was scared

of it

it's tough

to trust

the Lord

in that

but how foolish

is that

as we look

at the gospel

we trust

God

with our

eternity

but we don't

trust him

for anything

else

sometimes

so much

of our

perspective

as believers

is directly

related

to the extent

to which

we trust

God

trusting

the truth

of God

will move

us to stand

firm

on sound

doctrine

we'll stand

firm

on it

when we

truly

trust

God

that he's

right

and we'll

defend

it

trusting

the work

of God

will move

us to partner

with the church

in proclaiming

the gospel

trusting

his word

will cause

us to stand

firm

trusting

the fact

that he

actually

does work

through us

will cause

us to press

forward

in striving

together

for the gospel

trusting

the goodness

of God

the rightness

of God

will move

us to be

faithful

in the face

of opposition

you see

all of this

eventually

just comes

down to

faith

without faith

it's impossible

to please him

the writer

of Hebrews

tells us

some of you

may say

you know

when I

when I

trusted Christ

when I

when I

when I

ventured

into this

Christian life

I came

for the

forgiveness

and for

the love

and for

heaven

and for

God

I didn't

come for

suffering

and difficulty

I didn't

come

to have

to live

in light

of the

threat

that

people are

going to

oppose

everything

that I

believe

and oppose

everything

that I

am

and if

my life

actually

gets

wrapped

up in

this

that

means

I'm

going

to face

even

more

opposition

but all

of those

things

end up

coming

down

to the

extent

with which

we

actually

trust

the

Lord

this

week

Julie

and I

had a

conversation

preparing

for this

particular

message

a truth

that Julie

had to

remind me

of this

week

that even

in preaching

a sermon

or studying

a passage

or leading

a church

or whatever

this is

when I

can let

go of

the fact

that I

can't

do it

and actually

trust the

Lord

to do it

even if

I

look like

a fool

even if

I don't

do it

the right

way

or if

I'm

weak

in some

form

or fashion

I have

to trust

the Lord

and as soon

as I can

trust the

Lord

his work

can begin

through me

in whatever

way he

desires that

work to be

done

if you're

going to be

bold at

work

or in your

family or

wherever else

you're going to

avoid the

skittishness in

the Christian

life

you're going

to have to

trust God

that even

in persecution

he loves

you

and he has

a purpose

for that

Marty's

testimony

he didn't

mention as

much about

today

earlier this

year about

going through

that difficulty

he was

airlifted to

the hospital

and almost

died

had brain

surgery

a couple

brain

surgeries

actually

earlier this

year

a man

with a

weak faith

would look

at that

and wonder

maybe

is God

truly got

my back

in this

is this

really what

this life

is supposed

to be

like

and you

get through

those moments

with joy

when you

truly trust

God

you cast

yourself

on him

you stand

firm

when you

really

truly

believe

that what

he has

given us

in his

word

is actually

his

word

and so

just like

we mentioned

earlier in the

service

like that man

in the

new

testament

when we

come

daily

to our

time of

study

our

personal

devotion

we come

with that

prayer

Lord

I believe

your truth

help my

unbelief

help me

believe it

so that I

can stand

firm

on it

help me

to trust

that you're

going to

work

when I

have this

conversation

later today

with my

wife

help me

to trust

that you're

going to

work

when I

actually

share the

gospel

on social

media

this week

and I

just

kind of

put this

out there

help me

trust

that you're

going to

work

help me

trust

Lord

that you

are

actually

in

control

and if

I

deal

with

suffering

it's

all

because

you

want

me

to

deal

with

that

living

the

gospel

worthy

life

to

truly

say

for

to

live

is

Christ

and

to

die

is

gain

starts

with

this

kind

of

demonstration

that

we

pattern

our

lives

after

the

gospel

itself

and

then

we

live

it

out

in

faith

so

that

these

things

become

a

reality

for

us

as

well

express

written

consent

from

Lakeside

Bible

Church

don't

forget

to

visit

us

online

at

lakeside

Bible

church

or

find

us

on

Facebook

and

Instagram

by

searching

for

Lakeside

Bible

NC

if

you

live

in

the

Charlotte

or

Lake

Norman

area

we'd

love

for

you

to

attend

one

of

our

worship

services

we

meet

every

Sunday

morning

at

10

a.m.

in

the

gym

at

Cornelius

Elementary

School

we'd

love

to

meet

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