Our Manner of Life
Notes
Transcript
Introduction & Context
Introduction & Context
It has been almost two weeks since the presidential election, and as many of you know we had to opportunity to interact with many who came to this church to cast their vote. I observed a consistent response from voters that day as they exited the building. As they approached our table to get a cup of coffee or hot cider and a snack, I would often say, you did it! To which many would say, finally. For many, and perhaps you can relate to this, the months, weeks and days leading up to Election Day was stressful. Like many before it, this election was contentious. The stakes seemed really high. It has become common to hear culture commentators bemoan how divided the country is. I’m sure the political ads that showed up on our news feeds, TV screens, inboxes and mailboxes contributed to the exasperation that led many to breathe a sigh of relief and say, finally after casting their vote, but whether people made this connection between their stress about the election or not, the fact is the fears and anxieties people have been feeling is a reflection of our experience living in a fallen world. What the election does is brings many of our concerns to the surface and to the forefront, and while there are a great deal solutions proposed and many promises offered, the reality of our stress can be crushing. So for many, finally is a hopeful expression that relief is just around the corner.
This is what Jesus prayed for His disciples and for anyone who strives to follow Him today:
15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
This is our assurance as we contend with this fallen world. We are here, we live here, God has placed us here in this place and at this time. Let me ask you something? Do you find this prayer comforting? Keep my followers in the world, but as they live in this world, keep them, that is, protect them from the evil one. Wouldn’t it be easier just to not have to deal with that? Isn’t that, the fact that we live in a fallen world, that this domain for now is oppressed by the activity of Satan, is all this the ultimate reason we contend with anxiety, stress and fear? Isn’t that why people, whether they realize it or not, are saying after they vote, finally as if now it’s going to get better? Would it not be easier, better for Jesus to take us out of this world?
But again, Jesus prayed I do not ask that you take them out of this world.
The Apostle Paul knew the turmoil of living in this world well, and he sought to minister to God’s people who were suffering for the same reason he was. We’ll read out text in a few moments, but here are the opening words of the passage: only, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. We will seek to understand this soon, but Paul’s concern is similar to Jesus’ concern. Live faithfully to God in this world. Live a God-honoring life in this world.
FCF
FCF
But we can become convinced that there are times living faithfully to God must be suspended because we believe the obstacles that oppose that conviction are too great.
We’re overwhelmed, we loose sight of the superiority of God over everything, wee look around the world, everything seems to be crumbling, we begin to hope in, trust in the wrong things and it’s in those moments, those times that we, perhaps not exactly in these terms, but conclude that we have no choice to allow faithful living to take a back seat.
You might think Paul would have fallen into this trap given his troubles. We will be in Philippians today, and we know that Paul wrote this letter from prison. He was imprisoned because he followed Christ, obeyed Christ even when powerful men told him not to.
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,
So Paul sees his suffering as an instrument that God used to advance the gospel. His suffering is unleashing the glory of Christ in the household of Caesar through his bold preaching. Here’s what he wrote in verse 18:
18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice,
On top of being in prison, there were people who were preaching Christ, but disparaging Paul. Essentially they were saying, Christ is great, Paul is not. And to this Paul says, I rejoice that Christ is proclaimed, even if its done in pretense. If it were us, we might think, I’m in prison for being faithful to Christ, and now I hear that there are people who are putting me down while they proclaim the good news? I give up. Can you imagine responding this way? But Paul sees that suffering is leading people to proclaim Christ, and in that he rejoiced. He continues:
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
Paul believed that everything that was going on in his life, and the support he had from the church in Philippi would turn our for his deliverance which is another word for salvation. Not deliverance from prison. Paul knows that his freedom from prison is not guaranteed. He acknowledges that Christ can be honored through his life or his death. This is what he is sure of. Live or die, I’ll magnify Jesus because as verse 19 says, the prayers of his brothers and sisters and the help of the Holy Spirit Christ will be honored through me.
But he may live. Verse 25
25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
Joy in the faith. What the foundation of this joy? Verse 26:
26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.
So if Paul does not die, he will live and make much of Christ by encouraging the faith of others that they might exalt Christ. So if he dies, his death will magnify Christ. If he lives, he will receive joy in helping the Philippians to magnify Christ. And this brings us to our text.
Read
Read
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.
Pray
FCF: But we can become convinced that there are times living faithfully to God must be suspended because we believe the obstacles that oppose that conviction are too great.
Main Question
Main Question
How can we guard against believing the lie that living faithfully to God must take a back seat when we are confronted with powerful obstacles that oppose our conviction to live Christ-exalting lives?
Notice again the opening words of verse 27: only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Focus on the phrase, manner of life. This is the Greek word politeuomai. I tell you this because it may cause you to think of the word politics or polis which means city.
This is a command to live as a citizen in such a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. But how do we do that? Well part of that answer concerns where our citizenship exists.
Now, there are some who suggest Paul means for the Philippians to live as citizens of Philippi. There is no doubt that the church in Philippi are citizens of Philippi, but Paul’s exhortation is to live a life worthy of the gospel, and living this way is connected to what he says about the Philippians’ citizenship in chapter 3:
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Our supreme allegiance is to heaven, so Paul says, live like it. Let your heavenly citizenship on earth be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
And consider the gospel of Christ. The good news of Jesus.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our sins are forgiven
We have been declared righteous
And we have been caused to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:3-4).
And we are to live in such a way… in a manner that shows this about us.
Our king is not Caesar is this world is not our treasure. Live like it!
But we didn’t answer the question fully.
How can we guard against believing the lie that living faithfully to God must take a back seat when we are confronted with powerful obstacles that oppose our conviction to live Christ-exalting lives?
Yes, by living our citizenship in heaven on earth in a way that magnifies Christ. But specifically characterizes this kind of living?
Resolute Solidarity: contending together for the faith (27-28)
Resolute Solidarity: contending together for the faith (27-28)
How does Paul describe this kind of living?
A refusal to concede gospel ground (27)
A refusal to concede gospel ground (27)
Back to verse 27, find the phrase standing firm. This is a military reference that pictures a soldier who refuses to leave his post. It means to hold steady, to maintain your ground.
What’s the ground that we’re not conceding? The gospel of Christ.
Paul issues this command to stand firm elsewhere:
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Standing firm in the faith refers to the Christian faith. It’s a faith that believes a body of doctrine that’s outlined in Scripture. And standing firm in the faith is to be unwavering in our devotion to it.
So standing firm is to be unwilling to compromise on sound doctrine and practice.
Though the culture says it finds offense in the exclusive nature of the gospel, that Jesus Christ is the only way, truth and life and that no one can come to have peace with God except through Him, we will not concede that point. Jesus is the only way, and thank God He is.
We do not concede an inch on the Bible’s teaching on human sexuality because it is the only true and good teaching on sexuality.
Often we are called to concede in the name of love, but because the gospel of Christ is the good new of Christ, we know it is unloving to concede.
So we contend for the faith together by refusing to concede an inch of gospel ground.
This resolute solidarity is also seen in
A rallying to commit to gospel unity (27)
A rallying to commit to gospel unity (27)
We’re standing firm in one spirit and with one mind.
I suggest that one spirit and one mind are both a call to unity among the church. If I’m right, then this means we are not meant to live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ alone.
Now, if you’re using the ESV version of the Bible, you’ll notice that spirit in verse 27 is not capitalized. This reflects the understanding of those who translated the original language into the ESV. They do not believe that spirit here is a reference to the Holy Spirit. To be sure, there is debate on this. I’m inclined to agree and see the call to be of one spirit and one mind as stating the same thing: Be unified. I suggest this is a reference to an internal attitude of togetherness… all in this together. Like in Acts two when the church is said to all be together and had everything in common.
Paul gets at this in the next chapter
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.
The call to single mindedness begins with sound doctrine and practice. Standing firm, yes, but standing firm together.
We we criticize other people, tear into other people, condemn other people, label other people, attack other people we shred the body of Christ apart, and our hope of standing firm is jeopardized.
We are answering the question: How can we guard against believing the lie that living faithfully to God must take a back seat when we are confronted with powerful obstacles that oppose our conviction to live Christ-exalting lives? We suggested it begins with a resolute solidarity to contend together for the faith. Refusing to concede gospel ground, rallying to commit to gospel unity, also
A resolution to contend for gospel advance (27)
A resolution to contend for gospel advance (27)
I’m focusing on the phrase striving side by side.
So as we stand firm and are united in heart out of a humility and love, we commit with one another to contend or struggle for the faith of the gospel.
The word striving is describing standing firm. Striving is the word from which we get our word athletics and the prefix of the Greek word is with, so this word means to struggle together.
The gospel has been given to the church to proclaim together and to treasure together.
When it comes to striving together I suggest there are two points of commonality that if acknowledged, will go a long way to strengthen our resolute solidarity
A common admission
A common admission
You know what we have in common? Neediness. We are all needy people, but what we are inclined to do is marginalize, if not attempt to conceal this about ourselves.
In his book, Side by Side, Ed Welch highlights the words of Jesus:
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
We might as well give up on the idea that we have it all together and our lives figured out. Not many of us would claim this to be true of ourselves, but we certainly can behave as if it’s true by doing our best to not let on that we are struggling. Marriage struggles, children struggles, money struggles, temptation struggles, anger struggles, the list goes on.
Ed Welch asks the question, why go public with our hardships? Because human beings do best when we take our hardships public to God and at least one other person.
I don’t want to hide behind this pulpit and suggest in some way that I am free of struggle. Here’s my confession: I need God and I need His provision which is the church.
This is our common admission.
But another point of commonality is
A common ambition
A common ambition
contend for the faith
Keep in mind we are talking about standing firm, doing that alongside one another.
The fight that standing firm is brings us together. Consider what Jude said:
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
contend for the faith. The faith is what the people of God have been given, and the world rejects it. So we are called to contend for it. Fight for it. Treasure it together! Proclaim it together. Defend it together. Engaging in this effort is demanding… it is taxing, but it is unifying. Strive side by side for the faith of the gospel. This is our common ambition.
Let’s remember these 2 points of commonality the next time we’re tempted to marginalize the importance of our unity as a church. A common admission: We are needy. A common ambition: Contend for the faith.
When Christians fight with each other, unity is lost. Later on in this book, Paul addresses such a situaltion:
2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.
Paul urges these two Christians to be reconciled. Then he asks a mediator to help these two women to be reconciled
3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
The phrase labored side by side is the same word we are focusing on here in verse 27: striving side by side. Paul’s reminder is that these two women, though in conflict, had previously worked together at his side. This is a call to come back to that. Contend for the gospel together.
Contending for the faith together also calls us to
A resolve to courage for gospel confidence (28)
A resolve to courage for gospel confidence (28)
Another descriptor of standing firm is not being frightened in anything by your opponents.
The word frightened in verse 28 occurs only here in the NT, but when we look at it in other sources, it is often used to describe the state of a horse when upset. Just picture a horse unsettled, and its rider trying to calm it down by saying woe.
Paul is telling the church to not be unsettled like this because of the enemies.
The very mention of fear means the Philippians were facing opposition of some kind, and this opposition was dangerous. There’s a threat of harm. Paul calls for fearlessness in the face of this kind of trouble.
And in the context of Paul’s instruction to not be afraid is the instruction to do all this together. There is no doubt that there are times when we need to exercise this fearlessness on our own. At the work place, in our families, in the public square. But this is a call to fearlessness together.
You and I have lives beyond these walls, and we are not always together, but I take comfort knowing that as I live my day-to-day, week-to-week life, I’m part of a church so that even if I am confronted with opposition, and even if it poses some threat, God has given me a people, a community, a family who love me and love the Lord.
A Spurgeon quote helps the medicine go down”
"Be of good courage. There are few storms, after all, that are ahead, to those that have passed through many already. The further we are on the road, the less there is of it to bear".
And as we live courageously for the cause of the gospel we will experience
A restfulness in the confirmation of gospel power (28)
A restfulness in the confirmation of gospel power (28)
Let’s take stock of where we are.
The church is called to a unity that is described as being of one spirit and one mind.
As briefly noted earlier, in chapter 2, we know that this kind of unity is produced by being like Jesus who emptied Himself and took on the form of a servant.
So it’s the unity of not counting myself more significant than you.
It’s a unity that come from not taking thought of my own interests only but also your interests.
This isn’t about having the same tastes, personality or even being agreed on every fine point of doctrine.
This is a unity that expresses our willingness to sacrifice for one another. We link arms and face our enemies together.
So there is a beautiful humility and a glorious fearlessness.
And at the end of verse 28, we are told that this is a clear sign. Unity and fearlessness is a clear sign. This is our banner. We declare ourselves to be a people who are citizens of heaven, and we intend to live our our heavenly citizenship here on earth.
You may have noticed a new sign our in the narthex: Welcome to Grace BFC - for the glory of God and the salvation of men. This is meant to capture who we are. What we’re all about.
The humble love of one another and our fearless stand for the gospel in the presence of opposition is a real sign that you are saved. And to those who oppose people who are saved are lost. Their end is destruction. They are enemies of the cross.
The fact that our fearless contending for the faith and humble love for one another is evidence of these eternal realities displays the power of the gospel.
Romans 1:16 (ESV)
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…
We want rest from the weariness of living in this sin-burdened world. Rest in the power of the gospel. As we stand firm by striving and not being frightened by our enemies, yes that can be exhausting, but no that God uses our lives to display eternity to the world. This is the power of the good news of Jesus Christ.
So we guard against believing the lie that living faithfully to God must take a back seat when we are confronted with powerful obstacles that oppose our conviction to live Christ-exalting lives by a
Resolute solidarity in which we contend together for the faith
This happens by
A refusal to concede gospel ground
A rallying to commit to gospel unity
A resolution to contend for gospel advance
A resolve to courage for gospel confidence and
A restfulness in the confirmation of gospel power
On what must our resolute solidarity be based?
A Radical Synthesis: Practicing our union with Christ (29-30)
A Radical Synthesis: Practicing our union with Christ (29-30)
Verse 29 makes clear the people of God have received two gifts from Him: belief and suffering. OK, somewhat unexpected, but here’s the question:
How do the gifts of belief and suffering undergird our contending together?
I want us to see the flow of Paul’s argument in these four verses. In verses 27-28, Paul outlines our resolute solidarity in contending for the faith. He asserts this is the way we live out our heavenly citizenship on earth, but he bases this assertion on our radical synthesis, that is on our union with Christ. Notice verse 29 begins with the word for. Versed 27-28 are true because verses 29-30 are true.
We can contend for the faith because we are unified to Christ.
How is our union with Christ conveyed here?
We are unified in our confession of the gospel of Christ (29)
We are unified in our confession of the gospel of Christ (29)
The substance of our confession is the gospel. This is clear enough from what Paul already said. The gospel of Christ in verse 27. The faith of the gospel in verse 27.
It has been granted means that we have received something by the grace of God. That we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is by the grace of God.
That we sin our sin as an offense to God. That we see our forgiveness as a priceless treasure. That we have hope in this world because Jesus has risen from the dead. That we know, understand and believe this is evidence of God’s grace.
That our belief in the gospel is evidence of God’s grace is clear enough but
what about what Paul says about suffering?
We are unshaken by threats because of our commitment to the gospel of Christ (29-30)
We are unshaken by threats because of our commitment to the gospel of Christ (29-30)
The same gift language that Paul uses to describe the reality that we believe is the same language he uses to describe our relationship to suffering.
It has been granted to suffer for His namesake.
Understandably, we ask where is the grace in suffering?
It seems that this suffering is suffering that comes in the form of hostility from opponents.
What happens when we suffer. Unity gets harder, loving one another gets harder. And what God does is He provides us faith in His gospel, and faith in the gospel enables us to withstand our suffering in a way that brings glory to God.
All of this is a sign (v. 28) that we are saved and to the world that they are not.
If you are in Christ, you are saved and your enemies cannot prevail over you.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So we are called to live our heavenly citizenship on earth through a resolute solidarity to contend for the gospel of Jesus Christ together. We can expect to have this level of conviction because of our union with Christ. Our union with Christ undergirds our contending for Christ.
But we live as citizens of heaven now. Again the words of Paul
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Our waiting can be grueling, but when our Savior returns, then we will be able to breathe that word of relief: finally.
