I really DEBATED the idea of starting this morning with a little game, sometimes called “Choose your Wall” or “This or That”. You may have played it, like me, back in your youth group days as an ICEBREAKER, where you publicly declare your preference, given the choice between, say, “TACOS [on this wall] or PIZZA [on that wall]”… “VIDEO games, or BOARD games”… do you prefer the “SPRING, or the FALL”?
But if we were gonna play it, the choices I was gonna give you were gonna be WAY less BENIGN:
“If you support TRUMP, go stand on Wall A; if you can’t STAND him: Wall B”.
“If you support mass deportations, Wall A; if you don’t, Wall B.”
“If you BELIEVE in climate change, Wall A; if you think it’s a Leftist conspiracy, Wall B”.
Or how about the CHURCH version:
“If you’re REFORMED, Wall A; Arminian, Wall B.”
“If you’re a premillennialist, Wall A; A-millennialist, Wall B”
“If you think songs written after the 19th century should be BANNED from church, Wall A; if you prefer singing songs written this decade, Wall B.”
Now you can probably imagine why I opted NOT to play it, because SADLY, I’m afraid SOME of you wouldn’t have made it past the sermon introduction this morning; you’d already be heading for the PARKING lot! (“Where are all the other TRUMPERS?! Clearly this is not MY kind of CHURCH!”… “WHAT?! The PASTOR is a CONTINUATIONIST?! Grab your purse, honey…”
And that’s the DOWNside of living in such a gospel-SATURATED area, where there’s a church every other exit of the highway; you don’t really have learn to respectfully debate and LISTEN and go back and search the Scriptures more diligently so you can clarify and RE-articulate your position and STILL disagree and thus learn to LOVE and WORSHIP alongside fellow believers who think DIFFERENTLY than you.
Brad & Deb Mashburn don’t HAVE that option (I would say, “they don’t have the LUXURY, of just finding a new church”, but friends: it is NOT a luxury; it’s a TEMPTATION… a TRAP!”). But when you’re one of just a few hundred Christians in a city of over a MILLION people; imagine if West Hills were the ONLY church in St. Louis… that’s Dakar.
And that was ancient PHILIPPI. The city and church to whom the apostle Paul is writing this morning. Philippi has a population of approximately 10,000 , and from what we can tell, just ONE church; one HOUSE church. Perhaps… 50 people? How important do you think church UNITY was, in Philippi? EXISTENTIALLY important? Paul does NOT want to see them turn into the church in CORINTH, whom he rebuked in his opening to that letter:
“I appeal to you, brothers… that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you…that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?” (1 Cor 1:10-13)
Was TRUMP crucified for you? Was JOHN CALVIN? Was Pastor WILL? If I left West Hills tomorrow, would YOU? Are you here for ME… or for the GOSPEL that I proclaim to you?
So there were already “DIVISIONS” in Corinth, but now Paul is starting to see the first sign of CRACKS in Philippi; he’ll address it most explicitly later in ch4, v2: “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.” That’s it; that’s all we hear. We don’t know if they were fighting over who got to be the LEAD teacher of the children’s ministry, over who got to sing lead VOCALS on the church worship team, over who was cooking the TURKEY for the church “Night of Thanks” service; you LAUGH, but I can ASSURE you that churches have SPLIT over LESS.
But Paul will have none OF it. He’s gonna nip it in the bud. YES Paul is writing this letter as a THANK YOU note for their missionary support. YES he’s writing to ENCOURAGE the church to press ON in the faith, in spite of adversity and persecution; and he’ll reiterate THAT this morning as well. But Paul is ALSO writing here to EXHORT the Philippians to:
- “stand firm in one spirit” (1:27); to
- “striv[e] side by side, with one mind, for the faith” (1:27); to
- “be of the same mind, hav[e] the same love, [and] be in full accord” (2:2).
Why? Why was UNITY so important to PAUL?
- EPHESIANS: “bear with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (4:2-5)
- COLOSSIANS: “forgiv[e] each other… And above all else, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (3:13-14)
- 2 CORINTHIANS: “agree with one another, live in peace” (13:11)
- ROMANS: “Live in harmony with one another. ” (12:16)
- GALATIANS: “you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (3:28)
Why is unity so important to JESUS? Consider this: Of all the really important things that Jesus could have prayed for his disciples on their final night together in the Upper Room just before his crucifixion – he could have prayed for protection for them, for courage, for FAITH… – but what did he PRAY? What was the thing he wanted most for them… and for US?
UNITY: “Holy Father, keep them in your name… that they may be ONE, even as we are one” (Jn 17:11). Jesus made it CLEAR, in John 17, this wasn’t just a prayer for the 12 disciples sitting around the table with him that night; he said, ““I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [who’s THAT, Church? That’s US! All Christians who have BELIEVED in Jesus thanks to the written – and LIVED – testimonies of the apostles; Jesus prayed for US…] 21 that [we] may all be ONE… PERFECTLY one (he prayed)… just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, [he prayed that we would be as UNIFIED as the TRI-une GOD] that they also may be in us, [that’s HOW we do it; we come together as ONE to the extent that we are IN CHRIST; HE is not divided, so neither can His BODY be; that’s the “WHO, WHAT, and HOW” of Christian unity; but here is Jesus’s WHY; John 17:21-] so that the world may believe that you [Father] have sent me.” (17:20-23)
Church: our UNITY IS our WITNESS to the watching world.
Is the GOSPEL that UNITES us STRONGER than the ISSUES that might otherwise DIVIDE us?
Tribalism is the way of the world: “Republicans over on THIS wall; Democrats on THAT one…”, “Paedobaptists over HERE, in THIS church; CREDO-baptists over THERE, in THAT church…” – TRIBALISM. Because the WORLD doesn’t possess a GLUE that is STRONG enough to hold:
-pro- and anti-VAXXERS together…
-pro- and anti-TAXERS together…
Red and blue; Black and white; Rich and poor; male and female… but Church: WE have the GLUE! It’s the GOSPEL! “[We] are all one in Christ Jesus”! (Gal 3:28)
And when the world sees it – not a “Trump” Church, not a “Calvinist” Church, but a GOSPEL Church – when they see that this gospel – Christ CRUCIFIED and RAISED for the forgiveness of sins – is good enough, STRONG enough, to hold such diverse people as US together, then they are FORCED to consider just how POWERFUL and TRUE the gospel really must be.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples,” Jesus said, “ if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).
Besides, “how good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] dwell together in unity!” (Ps 133:1). Life’s just more ENJOYABLE that way, isn’t it? When my kids “dwell together in unity”, there are no 3 people in the WORLD I’d rather be around. I took them to 6 Flags one last time last week; it was a DELIGHT. They were getting ALONG… (“Which ride do YOU want to do next, Lijey? Ooh, how about River King Mine Train… Oh, but BOEY can’t ride that one with us… “It’s okay, you guys can ride it without me; I’ll wait”). I came home from work the NEXT day and Ellery’s crying, Bo’s shouting, Elijah’s laughing, Polly’s SCREAMING… and for about 3 seconds, I stood there and SERIOUSLY considered getting back in the car and driving back to work; “Eh, I’ll just SKIP dinner; not worth it, to deal with THIS…”
Is that the state JESUS is gonna find his CHURCH in, His BRIDE, when HE returns? Or will we be “standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side, with one mind, for the faith of the GOSPEL”? (1:27)
Let’s read the passage together now; I invite you to STAND… Phil 1:27 – 2:5; hear the word of the Lord:
“Only let your manner of life be worthy[h] 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.
2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 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”
This is the word of God…
As we recognized already in the Intro, it is the GOSPEL that unifies us as believers. But as Paul EXPLORES and EXPLAINS that gospel unity here, we actually find FIVE (somewhat) distinct gospel uni-TIES here; or five FACETS of our one singular unity, if you prefer.
The FIRST is that (#1) In Christ, we share one (gospel) CALLING. (1:27a; 2:3-4) One CALLING.
And Paul GIVES it to us right up front here:
“let your manner of life be worthy[h] of the gospel of Christ”
Can you think of anything in your life that you’ve been CALLED to that you feel totally UNWORTHY of? I’ve got TONS!
- I feel UNWORTHY of this calling to be God’s MOUTHPIECE for you every Sunday; the one through whom God is speaking to His people
- I feel UNWORTHY of the calling to be my daughter’s father; she deserves a better dad, but I am grateful that she’s stuck with ME. (The BOYS? I DESERVE them)
- I may have NEVER felt more unworthy than I did just last week. I had the TOTALLY undeserved honor of being invited to The Gospel Coalition’s Colloquium, their biannual COUNCIL meeting; it was 50 of the most well-known, well-respected evangelical Reformed pastors ALIVE… and ME. I got to sit all day next to Kevin DeYoung, and then eat dinner with JD Greear, and then eat lunch the next day with John PIPER (who isn’t nearly the curmudgeon I thought he’d be; he was incredibly KIND and ENCOURAGING to me). But I spent all last week suffering from SEVERE “imposter syndrome” – “I don’t belong in the ROOM with these guys!”
But here’s the REALITY, Church: those men are all SINNERS TOO. You know who I don’t belong in the ROOM with? JESUS! And yet here’s the GOSPEL: that He loved me SO much, He left HEAVEN to enter this broken world of ours, and be MURDERED, in order to rescue me and make me HIS OWN; to ADOPT me.
“NOW”, Paul says, “go and LIVE like it.” ACT like a child of God, like a CITIZEN of HEAVEN; that’s what the Greek literally says here: “conduct yourselves as worthy CITIZENS”. You know when you were growing up, and you’d have a play date or a sleep over at a friend’s house, and your parents would remind you to “be on your BEST behavior”; why? Cuz you were REPRESENTING them, your family.
That’s what PAUL is reminding us of HERE: we represent CHRIST; in 2 Corinthians 5 he calls us “AMBASSADORS” for Christ (v20); an ambassador BELONGS to a foreign kingdom, whose interests s/he is appointed to represent ABROAD; Paul says, that’s US, CHRISTIANS, here in the WORLD; in ch3 he’s gonna remind us that “our citizenship is in heaven” (v20), but for NOW, Christ has left us HERE to be his emissaries, his MESSENGERS, to CARRY his good news to all the earth, not ONLY in WORD – we PROCLAIM the gospel – but in DEED, because ACTIONS speak LOUDER than words. So Paul says here, “let your manner of life be worthy[h] of the gospel”. Live like you’re worth DYING for… worth JESUS having died for you.
Friend: Are you WORTHY of that? Of COURSE not; NONE of us is. But that shouldn’t stop us from striving with every fiber of our being to LIVE like it, should it?
“So”, Paul resolves in 2 Corinthians 5:9, “we make it our aim to please [the Lord]”.
And how do we PLEASE Him? UNITY! We please the Lord by “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (v27).
And we’re coming back to that, so hold that thought, but first let’s answer THIS: how do we MAINTAIN our unity? We ATTAIN it only through CHRIST; “[we] are all one IN Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). But He gives US the power to CULTIVATE, to BOLSTER, to FOSTER and FURTHER our unity… and Paul tells us how in ch2 vv3 & 4 now:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Church: it’s really that simple. I didn’t say “that EASY”, because as ANY selfish person knows (and I am chief of sinners!) – but this is not at ALL “easy” – this business of “counting others more SIGNIFICANT than yourself… of looking to OTHERS’ interests just as much as your OWN” – at times it feels IMPOSSIBLY difficult, doesn’t it? And yet, it is God’s SIMPLE answer to the question of how we please HIM, how we “live a life WORTHY of the GOSPEL” to which we’ve been called: we do it by being UNIFIED, “being in full accord and of one mind”, and we can only do THAT, to the extent that we are SELFLESS. HUMBLE. DEFERENTIAL to others. Even PRIORITIZING them – their needs, interests and concerns – over our OWN. The Greek word for “humility” in v3 literally means “lowliness of mind”. It reminds me of Tim Keller’s definition of humility not so much as “thinking LESS of yourself” (DEVALUING yourself), but rather “thinking of yourself LESS” (self-FORGETFULNESS, because you’re so preoccupied thinking about GOD and OTHERS).
Because NOTHING foments FACTIONS and DIVISIONS – in a CHURCH… how about in a MARRIAGE?!… – quicker than SELFISHNESS – I’ll tell ya: I wanted to go start a new CHURCH when I found out I wasn’t getting MY GYM with this renovation. “4.8 million dollars… and NO GYM?! Sounds like it’s time for ME to go plant a CHURCH…”
Philippi was at risk of the same: the very first CHURCH SPLIT, because Euodia and Syntyche couldn’t agree on a color for the new church CARPET.
You want “your manner of life to be worthy of the gospel”? Be like JESUS.
You want to be like JESUS? “In humility count others more significant than yourself.”
By the way – who is OBJECTIVELY more SIGNIFICANT: you or Jesus? No contest: JESUS, right? But note that word “COUNT” or “CONSIDER”, “ESTEEM”, “REGARD”, “RECKON” others more significant. That’s what JESUS did for US, as we’ll hear NEXT week: “Though he was in the form of GOD… he HUMBLED himself… became a SERVANT…” to DIE for us. Because he COUNTED UN-worthy sinners like us as worthy nevertheless.
And now he beckons US to do the SAME for one ANOTHER. Church: this is what it MEANS for you and I to “let our manner of life be worthy[h] of the gospel of Christ”.
It means, SECONDLY now, that (#2) In Christ, we share one PURPOSE & one POWER. (1:27b; 2:1-2)
One PURPOSE; one POWER. That’s what Paul means when he exhorts them to “stand firm in one spirit, with one mind”.
The MIND purposes, and the SPIRIT provides the POWER.
WHAT does the mind purpose? Or what SHOULD it purpose? v27B: to “strive side by side for the faith of the gospel”.
Christian, consider yourself WARNED this morning: if you do not PURPOSE – set your MIND – if you don’t STRIVE for the faith, the Greek word is “WRESTLE” for it – it is a BATTLE to keep the faith – and on your OWN, you’re OUTMATCHED; we must strive TOGETHER – “side by SIDE” with one ANOTHER; hence the call to UNITY – “one mind” – if we DON’T, make no mistake: NO ONE just drifts into this faith; but you can ABSOLUTELY drift OUT of it. If you just go with the flow, “live and let live”, you will end up estranged from God, and estranged from the one true faith, delivered to the saints.
I know because I DID it. I got to college, and stopped “striving side by side for the faith”; I was NOT “one mind” with the Church, but rather, with the WORLD. “What does the WORLD believe to be true about the BIBLE?”; “What does the WORLD have to offer in the way of PLEASURE… “the good life”?”; “What does the WORLD tell me to have FAITH in? Science, Reason, MYSELF?” And I bought it, hook line and sinker.
That’s why discovering a ministry like The Gospel Coalition was so transformational for me. A network of the most BRILLIANT Christian scholars alive all “STRIVING side by side with ONE MIND for the faith of the gospel”. I got to thank John Piper for it personally last week, and share my story, of DE-constructing through four years of undergrad plus three years of SEMINARY, graduating and announcing to my family that I was no longer a Christian, but two years later being brought BACK to the faith, and in the years that followed, being called to the MINISTRY, and “Your MINISTRY,” I told Pastor John, “Desiring God, Ask Pastor John, Look at the Book… and even more importantly, Y’ALL’S ministry – you and Tim Keller and Don Carson: the Gospel COALITION – it WAS “RE-construction” for me. I never HAD a REAL seminary education. But you guys helped me put the pieces of the ‘one true faith’ back together; THANK you, for “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”
But Church we can only DO it, if we are “standing FIRM in one SPIRIT.” The mind must PURPOSE to keep the faith, but the SPIRIT is the POWER to keep it. And most commentators agree that the “S” in “Spirit”, both in v27 as well as v2 of ch2, that they should BOTH be CAPITALIZED, as they refer to the HOLY Spirit; GOD’S Spirit, who unifies us together in Christ, and who empowers us to “stand FIRM” for Christ in the face of opposition (v28). Just listen to what God’s word says about the POWER He provides us through His SPIRIT; because YES: it is absolutely ESSENTIAL that we “STRIVE with our MIND… with ONE mind, side by side with fellow BELIEVERS, for the faith”; but if we strive in our OWN power, we will FAIL.” We must “stand firm” in the power of CHRIST’S Spirit:
It’s why Jesus instructed his disciples to hold off on the Great Commission, on even ATTEMPTING to go and SHARE the faith, “until you are clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:49); “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and [THEN] you will be my witnesses… to the end of the earth.”” (Ac 1:8).
Jesus promised that when they DID face opposition, they need not be ANXIOUS about how to DEFEND their faith, because “the Holy Spirit will TEACH what to say in that hour”; He’ll GIVE you the words, and the POWER to stand firm (Lk 12:12).
But Paul is most EXPLICIT about the Spirit’s preserving power in his reminder to Timothy that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power… Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord… but share in suffering for the gospel BY the power of God” (2 Tim 1:7-8); the Holy Spirit gives us the POWER to SUFFER for the sake of the gospel… and stand firm.
In UNITY. “Being of the same mind,” ch2, v2, “having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” How do we BECOME so unified? What’s the FUEL for such unity, that Paul mentions in v1?
“if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy”… then be UNIFIED.
Conversely, if there is NO encouragement in Christ, NO comfort from love, NO participation in His Spirit, and no affection or sympathy… then we’ve got no HOPE of unity, no POWER for it.
We must be EMPOWERED for Christian unity by these FOUR FUEL sources. And according to God’s word, ALL of them must be given to us by His SPIRIT.
Where do we receive “encouragement in Christ”? Jesus promised, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit… will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you,” to ENCOURAGE you, and bring you PEACE. “MY peace I give to you,” He said, through the Holy SPIRIT, “Let not your hearts be troubled, nor afraid.” Let them be ENCOURAGED. (Jn 14:26-27)
Where do we receive “comfort from LOVE”? Romans 5:5 “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
How are we included in the “participation [or FELLOWSHIP; that’s the Greek word koinonia] in the Spirit”? 1 John 1: “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ… God is light… [And] if we walk in the light, [by His SPIRIT] then we have fellowship with one another” (vv3,5,7).
And fourthly, where does TRUE Christian “AFFECTION and sympathy”, or “COMPASSION” come from? “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness…” – “affection and compassion” (Gal 5:22).
Church: may we purpose to “be of one mind… in full accord” about the GOSPEL. And may we be em-POWERed to “stand FIRM in one SPIRIT” for the gospel.
#3- In Christ, we share one HOPE. (1:28)
Paul encourages the Philippians in v28: “You don’t have to be frightened in anything by your opponents.”
Even in DEATH, you’ll be able to say with the apostle Paul last week, that “For me, to live is Christ and to DIE is only GAIN”; “So go ahead and do your WORST, Rome! Because the WORST you can do to me – KILL me – just hastens my homecoming.”
Friend, do you have that kind of HOPE this morning? To be able to SMILE, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer did as he marched to his execution, REJOICING according to the guards and fellow prisoners in that Nazi jail, who remembered Bonhoeffer’s final words: “This may be the end, but for ME, it’s only the BEGINNING of TRUE life!”
Do you have that kind of HOPE? If not, you CAN this morning. It’s as simple as “A-B-C”:
*ADMIT your Sin: confess and REPENT – TURN from – your sin, and ask God’s forgiveness.
*BELIEVE in Jesus: that He lived the perfect life of obedience that God required, that He DIED a sacrificial death to pay the penalty for your sins; and that he was RAISED to victorious LIFE, in order to raise YOU to new life as well.
*Admit your Sin… Believe in Jesus… and C: CALL upon His NAME; the Bible promises that ““everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”… that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be SAVED”! (Rom 10:13,9)
“born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you… [until you] obtain the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Pet 1:3-9)
What a GLORIOUS HOPE we have! And what a “clear SIGN” it is, to our “OPPONENTS”, Paul notes, “of their DESTRUCTION”. Yes, the Nazi Gestapo and the Roman executioners – they must admit DEFEAT when they REALIZE that the worst they can do to Paul or to Bonhoeffer is actually the thing we Christians desire MOST: to be sent HOME to be with the LORD!
But West Hills: what about OUR “opponents”? Who are OUR greatest enemies?
SATAN.
Our SIN.
DEATH.
Church: the GOSPEL is God’s “clear sign” of their “DESTRUCTION”:
“Now I would remind you,” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, “of the gospel… that Christ died for our sins… he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures… [And] he will reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death… then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin… But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:1-4, 25-26, 54-57).
The gospel marks the DESTRUCTION of our opponents – Sin and Death – but it is a “clear sign” of OUR salvation; the “your” in v28 (“YOUR salvation”) is PLURAL. Because in Christ, we share ONE hope, ONE salvation; “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5)… “and that, from GOD”.
But that ALSO means, that UNTIL Christ has put ALL his enemies under his feet, and Death is FINALLY swallowed up once and for all, that… #4- In Christ, we (believers) share one CONFLICT. (1:29-30)
We will BE in conflict – at WAR with – the world, the flesh and the devil, until Christ returns or calls us home. Paul says in v30, you are “engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had”.
And Paul is ENCOURAGED by it! Look, Jesus said, “I didn’t come to bring peace to the earth, but a sword.” (Mt 10:34) Paul calls us to “Put on the whole armor of God” (Eph 6:11) so we can “Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Tim 6:12); this is CONFLICT language, BATTLE imagery.
So Paul is ENCOURAGED to hear that the Philippians are finally starting to SUFFER a little for their faith, because as JESUS put it, ““Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Mt 5:11-12).
Or as PAUL put it: we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, PROVIDED that we suffer with him in ORDER that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom 8:17). You wanna be GLORIFIED with Christ later in heaven? You better be SUFFERING for Christ for now in the world.
“Indeed,” Paul ASSURES us in 2 Timothy 3:12, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”; you simply cannot live for Christ in a world this SINFUL, without PAYING for it!
So I ask you, brother, sister: are YOU “paying for it”, your faith in Christ? What, if anything, does it COST you? Listen: a FAITH that COSTS NOTHING is WORTH EXACTLY what you PAID for it.
Are you “ENGAGED in the CONFLICT”, “fighting the good fight of the faith”?
If you’re NOT, it’s time to get off the sidelines, and get in the game; No – it’s time to get to the FRONTLINES and join the WAR!
And for those of you who ARE faithfully fighting, SUFFERING for the faith, Paul reminds us here to REJOICE in it! Like the apostles in Acts 5 who were arrested, imprisoned, and BEATEN for preaching Christ, and we read that they “rejoic[ed] that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for [His] name” (v41).
Cuz JESUS said, “BLESSED are you when they revile and persecute you… on my account… Be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Mt 5:11-12).
So back in Philippians 1, v29 now, Paul says, “it has been granted to you” – the Greek word is actually “GRACED”; you have been GRACED… – “not ONLY to BELIEVE in Christ” (that would be grace ENOUGH! The undeserved GIFT of saving FAITH!); but God is SO gracious, Paul tells them, that He is now giving you grace on TOP of grace, the unmerited BLESSING, the undue PRIVILEGE, of SUFFERING for his sake. “What a JOY!”
I mentioned two Sundays ago, with the Top Gun: Maverick illustration, how some people can’t FATHOM a person willingly signing UP for suffering, for a SUICIDE mission, in Maverick’s case. And yet as BELIEVERS, we know better than ANYONE the truth that there are some causes worth giving our LIVES for.
Brother, Sister: I want to CHALLENGE you this morning – will you give your LIFE to the cause of the GOSPEL? It may not – likely WON’T – actually COST you your life, as in, your DEATH. But as I heard a pastor ask once, “Maybe the BETTER question than “Are you willing to DIE for Christ?” is “Are you willing to LIVE for Christ? To wake up EVERY day and face a low-grade but steady stream of opposition from the world, the flesh and the devil… for the sake of CHRIST”? And do it JOYFULLY! “Count it all JOY”!?
Would you PRAY for it this morning: “Jesus, grant me the GRACE, the GIFT, of being counted WORTHY of SUFFERING for the sake of your name. I know the darker the world around me gets, while the BRIGHTER your light shines THROUGH me, as I GROW in Christlikeness, the more CONFLICT I am bound to experience. So Jesus, would you BLESS me with opportunities to SHINE your light in the DARKEST of places, come what may.”
It takes COURAGE to pray that prayer, Church. But it’s one the Lord is DELIGHTED to answer, if we’re BOLD enough to ask.
Finally, #5- In Christ, we share one SOURCE. (2:5)
Originally I was gonna say “we share one EXAMPLE”; Jesus, of course, EXEMPLIFIED… ALL of this for us:
*Self-sacrificing service of others
*With single-minded purpose and Spirit-powered compassion
*NO ONE faced more CONFLICT, and yet NO ONE exuded more HOPE… than JESUS!
But the more I read and RE-read verse 5 of ch2, the more I realized that “example” isn’t NEARLY a strong enough word.
Church, how do we faithfully obey our calling, to live lives “worthy of the gospel”?
How do we “stand firm” in UNITY and HUMILITY, “count[ing] others more significant than ourselves”?
How do we get the SAME hope that Paul had… that CHRIST had… even if we have to suffer the same kind of conflict and opposition?
There’s only one way – one SOURCE – for that kind of OBEDIENCE, that kind of SELFLESSNESS, that kind of HOPE. It comes ONLY by “Hav[ing] this mind among ourselves, which is ours IN Christ Jesus” (v5). Church, do we realize: Jesus didn’t just give us an EXAMPLE; He’s given us his very MIND. 1 Corinthians 2:16 declares that “we have the mind of Christ.” What does that mean?
It means we have all the POWER and purpose, all the courage and conviction, all the humility and the hope that indwelled Christ HIMSELF, because HE now indwells US: “[Christ’s] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness… that [we] may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:3-4).
Paul’s saying, “You HAVE his mind, his power, his DIVINE NATURE… now HAVE it.” “You HAVE Christ’s Spirit in you… now LIVE unto the Spirit.”
Live as the gospel-worthy,
Single-minded,
Faith-striving,
Spirit-powered,
Others-focused,
Christ-encouraged,
Conflict-laden, yet
HOPE-filled and
UNIFIED people of God that Christ has PURCHASED you to be.
For HIS glory, for OUR OWN GOOD, and as our witness to those around us in desperate need of Christ. “May we all be one… so that the world may believe”.