PHILIPPIANS | Worthy of the Gospel | Philippians 1:27-30

If you would remain standing and turn with me a copy of the scriptures to Philippians chapter 1. As we are making our way through the book of Philippians, we're coming to the end of chapter one. Philippians 1, beginning in verse 27, reading to the end of the chapter. Before we read God's word, let us go to Him again in prayer.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

Our heavenly Father, we thank you for Your word that You speak to us. We thank You that Your Word is sharper than any two-edged sword, Lord. We pray that it would cut deep into our hearts, that it would refine us, prepare us more for heaven, make us more like Christ. Lord, we thank you that as your word goes out, it goes out with power, because Lord, where your word is, there your spirit is as well. And so, Lord, we ask that Your Spirit would work within our hearts to humble us, to help us to rest and receive Christ this day. Lord, we thank You that You give us Your Word, and we thank You that You have given us salvation and the gospel in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And it's in His name we pray, Amen.

People of God, hear God's word for us this morning from Philippians chapter 1, beginning in verse 27.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

[27] 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, [28] 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. [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, [30] engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

He who has ears, let him hear the word of God. Please be seated.

I don't know if any of you have had this happen to you. If you have ever traveled overseas to another country, and you have had someone recognize that you're an American, and you didn't have to tell them, and you might think,"Well, how did they know? What was it about me that gave it away? Was it the way I dressed?

Was it the way I talked, or simply just the way I carried myself? And that they were able to simply look at me and say,"That's an American. I can tell.

Now, apparently, where we belong has a way of showing up in how we live. Where we belong has a way of showing up in how we live, and that is a question. And this is the question, really, that Paul is putting before us in our text is, if you belong to Jesus, if your life is Christ, can anyone tell? Last week, Paul said very powerfully, very poignantly, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And now, a few verses later, Paul says, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, and that these two statements go together.

If for you to live is Christ, now live it. Live in such a way that people can see your life and say that person belongs to Christ and His kingdom. And there's something particularly interesting about Paul's language here. Let your manner of life is actually a word that's connected to citizenship, and Paul is writing to a people who had been intensely proud of their Roman citizenship there in Philippi, and Paul is saying in effect, remember your true citizenship, remember your true country, remember you belong to another kingdom, you serve another king, live in such a way that your citizenship of that kingdom is shown to all men. If Christ is your life, live in such a way.

And what should that life look like? What should a life that is devoted to Christ look like?

Well, Paul begins to tell us that in this. X and it'll bleed over into chapter two as well.

But for today, there are three things that he says a life that is given to Christ should reveal these three things: standing firm together, second, standing without fear, and then third, suffering faithfully for Christ.

The first way to live worthy of the gospel is to stand firm for the gospel. Verse 27. So whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you. Paul doesn't want their faithfulness to depend on whether Paul is by their side, standing with them or not, whether he's watching over them or if he's absent, whether Paul comes back or never comes to see them again, he says, "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 notice the corporate language of this.

This is not individual Christians. Paul is addressing.

He's addressing the church, the the assembly, the the corporate gathering of God's people, one spirit, one mind, side by side.

This is not isolated individual Christians trying to survive on his on their own. This is the church. It's a picture of a group of people standing together for one purpose, one calling, one hope, one Lord. And there's a military quality also here to Paul's language, which again Philippi had a bunch of retired Roman soldiers come to it. That is Philippi was known for that.

When a lot of the Roman soldiers were finished their service, a lot of them would retire to Philippi. So it has a military culture to it. The Philippian jailer was probably most likely a retired Roman soldier who was now doing that job as a second job, really, and that's kind of like Tampa a little bit. We are somewhat of a military community, and maybe we can better understand Paul's language than other places because the imagery Paul gives us is that of a Roman legion working together, that their strength doesn't merely come from one individual soldier.

It their strength is holding the line together, where they put up their their shields together in an impregnable wall that enemy arrows cannot penetrate, and that's you know in our military it's similar. Our military strength does not lie in one extraordinary soldier. We have F 30 5s might might control the skies, but then you have a sky force. They're doing satellite intelligence. You have cyber forces disrupting enemy communications. A navy destroyer launching missiles from hundreds of miles away, and soldiers then maneuvering on the ground. And each has a unique and different role; none of them do everything.

But when they operate together under one command toward one objective, their combined strength is vastly greater than any of them alone. And Paul is saying, "This is what the church should look like. You stand beside me, and I will stand beside you. We will not abandon each other, and we will certainly not turn our weapons against each other. And this matters because there's already hints of unity becoming an issue here at Philippi. Paul will soon say in chapter two, when we come to it, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind. There's hints that those things are unfolding, and eventually Paul will even call out two particular women, Yodake and Syntiki, agree in the Lord.

Something is is threatening the unity of the congregation, and Paul says, "Remember, remember who you are. Remember what you're fighting for together. And what is it? Well, you're striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and that's really important for us to remember why we are here and what we are doing here, and what is the mission of this church? Because churches can become so easily distracted and diverted by remarkably small things, personal preferences, personalities, worried about who is getting recognition and who isn't, and who said what. And who got their way? Or the killer bees? The church just focuses on budgets and bodies and and and buildings. And suddenly, brothers and sisters who are supposed to be standing shoulder to shoulder for the gospel's sake begin looking at each other as an enemy. The people around you are not the enemy. Our enemy is the world, fallen humanity in its system and all of it that opposes God.

Our enemy is our own flesh, the remaining sinful nature within.

Our enemy is the devil, a real active fallen angel who actively seeks to oppose God. But we are striving together for the faith of the gospel, faith that is resting and receiving Christ, and that gospel, remembering that God is holy, holy, holy, and we are not, and we deserve God's judgment. But God, in His love, why we were yet sinners, sent Christ to live and to die, to rise and to ascend, and one day come again to bring us home.

Christ has been so gracious to us; He has given us peace with God. And if Christ has reconciled us to God, then the gospel should increasingly teach us how to live reconciled to one another. That's part of what it means here to live worthy of the gospel, not to earn the gospel, but to live in a way that is consistent with it.

So I think maybe even some questions you could ask yourself about the the unity and and how you are contributing to it. Is am I helping this church stand together? Do my words and my actions strengthen unity or weaken it? Do I assume the best about my brothers and sisters or the worst? Am I quick to forgive?

Do I seek to encourage? Do I pray for the people who are sitting around me? Do I care for their spiritual good? But standing together becomes especially difficult when there is also pressure coming from the outside, and so Paul continues now in verse 28, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

Apparently, the Philippian Christians had opponents, and that's not surprising because they had seen opposition to Christ and the gospel before, especially in Paul, back in Acts chapter 16, Paul who who cast out the demon from that little girl, and her owners become furious because she was a source of income for them, and then a crowd attacks Paul and Silas. They are thrown into prison. They are beaten. The Philippians have seen what it might cost to follow Jesus, and now they're facing conflict themselves. Paul doesn't tell them if you're being a really truly faithful Christian, everyone's going to like you, respect you, admire you for your faithfulness. That that is not at all the message that Paul is giving them. He says, "Not frightened in anything by your opponents, because the the idea is if you are being faithful to the gospel, there will be constant opposition and pressure from the enemy. The word Paul uses here carries the the idea of being startled or spooked. Think of a an animal who might become frightened. It panics. It bolts.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

It runs. And Paul says, "Don't allow opposition to frighten you away from Christ and also from each other. And there are several ways I think Christians can respond wrongly when the world becomes hostile to what we believe and the gospel. The first way is we simply just become a little bit more timid. We hide.

We become quiet. We begin adjusting our Christianity just so slightly so it doesn't really offend anyone. We try to simply blend in with the surroundings, become a little bit more like the world, so the world will accept us. But the other extreme is we we go in the other direction, we become belligerent and angry and harsh and always simply looking for another fight. And neither of those responses is what Paul describes. The Christian is neither cowardly nor unnecessarily combative, and Peter says something very similar to this in First Peter three verse 15. Peter says, "Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. But then he says, "Yet do it with gentleness and respect." Courage without arrogance, humility without fear. And why can Christians live that way?

Because we know who's actually sovereign in ruling over all things. Well, we know where our comfort in life and in death is is not our own. We don't belong to ourselves, but we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ, who rules over all things. And so Paul then continues in verse 28. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God.

Your steadfastness under persecution is a sign of the opposition's destruction, because if you cannot defeat Christ by attacking His people, then you are fighting a battle you cannot win. Well, they say we threaten them, but they still confess Christ. We excluded them, and they still confess Christ. We made following Jesus costly, and they are still confessing Christ.

It is a battle they cannot win.

They cannot destroy Christ, but the sobering reality is that He can destroy His enemies. But also, there are two destinations here. One is one of destruction, but the other is of salvation.

Your salvation is from God, and that destroys both fear and arrogance that we might have when we recognize that our salvation is not from ourselves but from God. We don't have to fear our opponents because God saves us completely, utterly. But we don't need to look arrogantly upon our opponents because God has saved us. We weren't smarter, we weren't better, we weren't more worthy. Simply, God had mercy.

Remember, God is the one who has started the work. God is the one that will complete the work. The world can call Christians' convictions and the gospel foolish, backward, or even hateful, and in many places Christians suffer far more than ridicule. But the church, we don't need the panic. Christ is still on His throne. Our citizenship is still in heaven.

Salvation is still from God. So stand firm, stand together, and don't be afraid. Now Paul knows standing faithfully for Christ will have often a great cost in your life, and what he says next, I think perhaps is the most surprising statement in the entirety of this text in 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.

And this is one of the verses that I did a double take on, and I hoped that there was some mistranslation in the text I had before me. Did Paul just say God has granted us to suffer for Christ? Is that what Paul just said? Granted, granted is this is a word that means something graciously given by God, and what has God graciously given to us?

Well, first to believe in Him.

Your faith in Jesus Christ is a gift that God has granted to you.

You didn't resurrect your own spiritually dead heart or open up your own eyes. God did it, and He brought you to Christ, and He has granted you faith. And we say, praise God for such a wonderful gift. Then Paul says, not only that is, God has another gift for you, but also suffer for his sake, and that's a lot harder for us to hear, isn't it? If God says, "I have a gift for you, faith in Christ, we say, "Praise God. But if He says, "I have another gift, suffering for Christ, I think most of us say,"What's the return policy on that gift? And yet, Paul uses the very same word here in our text. Faith has been granted to you; suffering for Christ has been granted to you. Now, that does not mean suffering itself is somehow good in itself. Pain, persecution, loss, death belong to a fallen world. But the gift is what God does through suffering. So, how is it possible that your suffering is a gift from God? Well, first. Suffering identifies us with Christ. Paul will later say that he desires to know Him and the power of His resurrection, and might share in His sufferings. Often we think about how Christ sympathizes and understands us. He is our great High Priest, and He took on flesh, and that we he understands our suffering. But here it is also now the opportunity for you to understand in just a little bit his suffering and what he went through for our sake. We belong to a crucified Savior. We who is now a risen Savior, and there is actually an honor in suffering for our Savior's sake.

We are being treated like our King was treated, and the servant is not greater than the Master.

Two suffering also strengthens and purifies our faith. It is one thing to say Christ is enough when we have Christ and our comfort and our reputation and our security and the approval of everyone around us.

But what happens when obedience to Christ begins costing us things, important things.

Suffering takes the confession of verse 21 out of the abstract and puts it to the test: Is it for me to live? Is Christ, and the die is gain, or not? Or is it for me to live? Is my comfort, my reputation, my possessions.

Three. That's why suffering, I think, also displays the worth of Christ. Anyone can say Christ is precious to me when it costs you nothing, but when obedience costs us something, and we still say,"Give me more of Christ. The world sees something it cannot easily explain, and that connects us directly to verse 28. Their opponents can threaten them, they can exclude them, they can make their lives difficult, they can even kill them, but they cannot take away what they truly treasure and love that is Christ.

Suffering also advances the gospel, and Paul himself is the great example of that. Remember what he told them earlier in this

"What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. Paul's imprisonment-it looked like an obstacle. Rome thought it was chaining Paul to a soldier, but as we looked at last week, God was chaining soldiers to Paul to have a rotation of the whole Roman legion come through to hear the gospel through Paul. The very thing that looked as though it would stop Paul's ministry became the very means God used to spread the gospel, and finally, suffering also prepares you for glory. This is the very pattern of our Lord Jesus Christ: cross first, then the crown. We just want the crown, and not the cross. We simply want a resurrected Savior. We do not want the suffering servant in whom we are to bear His image. We are to take up our cross daily and follow Him. But it also prepares us for glory when we recognize this is but temporary.

Suffering is never the final chapter in the Christian's life.

Now we need to be careful here.

Not all suffering is suffering for Christ. Sometimes people suffer because they've acted

Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evil doer, or as a meddler, being obnoxious to someone isn't being persecuted.

Getting criticized because you've behaved sinfully is not suffering for Christ. Paul is talking about suffering that comes precisely because we belong to Jesus. Now, most of us have never been dragged into the street, beaten with rods, and thrown into prison for following Jesus. And we shouldn't pretend that every inconvenience we experience is persecution. But faithfulness to Christ will have a cost in your life. Maybe it will cost you the approval of people that you desperately wanted to like you, and they will not like you because you will remain faithful to Jesus Christ. Maybe you are the student who refuses to go along with what everyone else is doing, and they will think you strange, and you will be excluded. Maybe you're. At work and obedience to Christ means you cannot say what you're being asked to say, you cannot affirm what you're being asked to affirm, you cannot do what you are being pressured to do at work, and it could cost you your job. Maybe following Jesus has created tension in your family.

Maybe following Jesus has cost you money because you are a truthful person. Maybe simply saying I belong to Jesus and therefore I cannot do that or be there closes a door you desperately wanted opened. And I think this is the question Paul is really having us wrestle with today: Where is belonging to Christ costing me? Paul mentions himself in verse 30, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now here I still have.

They know what Paul's talking about here. They've seen Paul suffer in Philippi. They've seen Paul beaten. They've seen him thrown in the prison, and now they see Paul suffering again in Rome. And Paul can easily say,"Look at me. I'm still here. And guess what? Christ is faithful.

The gospel is still Advancing, his kingdom will continue to go forth. My chains have not defeated Christ, and neither will your suffering. Notice the words

"For the sake of Christ. I think that's an interesting statement.

For the sake of Christ, because I think often we think about what Christ has done for our sake. For our sake, He humbled Himself. For our sake, He endured rejection.

For our sake, He was despised.

For our sake, He hung on a cross for our sake he bore your judgment for sin for our sake Christ suffered and now Paul says that we have been granted the privilege of suffering for the sake of Christ you see the beauty of that for our sake, Christ gave Himself, and now for His sake, we give ourselves. Not to repay Him, we never could. Not to earn His love, we have it in Christ. But because we belong to Him, because He is worth more than our conflict, more than our reputation, more than our opportunities, more than our lives, because to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Now I'll just end with this: just remembering the the picture that we began with about traveling to somewhere, and someone recognizes that you're an American.

Something about you gave it away.

The way you spoke, the way you acted. Something about you revealed where you belonged. And

What gives you away of your heavenly citizenship? When the world looks at our church, what does it see?

Does it see a group of people standing side by side together?

Will they see us refusing to be frightened into silence? Will it see you and me suffer for Christ's sake, and yet continue to say Christ is worth it? What about us in this church would cause people to say they belong to another kingdom. They're not from around here. Their kingdom is not this world, because that's what the church is. Sinclair Ferguson once said, "The church family is a colony of heaven on earth. We live here. We work here. We've raised our children here. We suffer here, but we do not belong here. We don't have a passport hanging around our neck that says "Citizen of Heaven, but we shouldn't need them. Our lives and our lives together should give it away. Let the World, see that the church, that they belong to one another, and that side by side for the gospel. There's only one way for the citizens of Christ's kingdom to live. Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. That's Paul's message here. You see, it flows to live is Christ. Our lives are found in our union and communion with our Savior, who has loved us, who has died for all of our sins and all of our shortcomings, and. All of our failures and all the ways that we have have not made Christ known, and He's forgiven us and saved us. But now, you who are filled with the Spirit of God, repent and believe, and so live a life that is worthy of the gospel. Not only believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but now live in such a way that affirms that profession of faith. Let's pray, our heavenly Father. We thank you for giving us your Word, and Lord, we do confess in many ways we have failed to make Christ known in our speech and in the way we live, I ask that you would forgive us, that you would help us to repent of either being cowardly or belligerent. But Lord, let us live as Christ would have us live. Let all those who see and interact with us be able to say that they are from another country, that this world is not their home, that we are citizens of heaven, Lord, help us to be your witnesses. Let us not be afraid. Help us to stand side by side, and Lord, even to suffer well for your sake. And it's in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. We have the opportunity to come to the Lord's table. Christ instituted this table on the night in which He was betrayed to be observed by His church until He comes again. At this table, we remember what Christ has done for us in the giving of Himself in living the perfect righteous life, and then also going to the cross and dying for all of your sin, not in part but the whole.

Then they were nailed to the cross, and you bear it no more.

Remember now what Christ is doing. Christ is living. Christ is active.

Christ is working through the Book of Acts. Hopefully, that message was pressed time and time again into you that the living and reigning Lord Jesus Christ is powerfully active right now. He is saving sinners. He is drawing us not only into the kingdom but upward and onward into the kingdom, sanctifying us and and causing the things of this world to grow strangely dim to us, that He might grow more and more clear and precious to us. This table also points us forward. This world is in our home. This is directing us to a heavenly feast.

We are a people right now of faith, but one day you will be a people of sight, and you will see your Savior face to face. Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

This table is for those who have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, this table is for those who have professed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and who are members in good standing of a church that professes the gospel. And this table is for those who are seeking to live their life for Christ. But also remember that this table is for those who recognize they are unworthy to enter in the presence of God on their own accord. That you will never have a worthy enough moment in your life to stand before God, and that your only hope is Christ alone to receive Him, to rest upon Him. This table is medicine for weak and weary souls. And again, I'll mention too, and you've heard me say this now a number of times. But why bread, and why wine? Well, bread is the very basic staple of one's diet, right? The carbohydrate. So Jesus gives us bread to show us that He is the very foundation and staple of our life and faith. Everything we do and we live and have our being should should be rested upon the foundation that is Christ. And why wine? Wine has that twofold effect. It's a picture of Christ going through the wine press of God's judgment that the scriptures so often talk about. God's enemies going through God's wine press-they are pressed and destroyed, and there is a flow of blood that just pours out in God's judgment, and that is what Christ has done for you. Took your wages of sin upon Himself. And the second picture with wine is this was Jesus's first miracle. Having wine is often. At weddings and the celebration, and this is the the celebratory cup you and I now hold, because Christ has drank the cup of wrath, the wrath of God to its very dregs. You now hold a cup of blessing that directs you to Christ Himself.

That all the blessings of God are yes and amen in Christ, and it directs us to the day where we will be with our bridegroom.

Let's go now to the Lord in prayer.

Our heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us this means of grace, just as your word is a means of grace, and so is Christian fellowship and prayer, Lord, strengthen us in our warfare against our flesh, the world, and the devil. Lord, help us to live in such a way that is worthy of the gospel, not that we earn it, because Christ has purchased it and paid for it and has freely given it to us, but let us live in a way that is consistent with the profession that we say we have. Lord, be merciful to your people now. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.